Hard on the Heart
by WhiteKitsuneKnight
Summary: Oh no! Hector's been injured, and Florina has to take care of him until they can heal him. Problem one? Florina is scared to death of Hector. Problem two? Hector keeps trying to talk to her. Indefinite Hiatus.
1. Knock out

Hey guys! It's Metaknight4ever, writing a fire emblem fic! *shot*

Anyways, I apologize for not getting on and writing more often.  
I've recently been very busy, but I won't bother you with the details, only the important stuff.

Firstly, I've got new software! Now I don't have to proofread everything myself! YAAAAY!

Secondly, I've become a Fire emblem fan. This doesn't mean I am deserting SSB, Kirby, or anything! It just means that I also like Fire emblem.

I am new to the series so if you are a fan, please do not complain about people being OOC, attack me with pairings, or yell at me just because you can.

This is HecFlor. Be aware of this.

This is not a one-shot. This has other chapters, which I will add in soon!

So this is my first real Multi-chapter romance! Wish me luck!

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**Chapter 1**

**Knock Out**

Florina quivered a bit. Kit was selecting groups to patrol the area because Matthew had seen some bandits in the territory. She was just hoping that Kit didn't put her with any men. She wasn't really listening too much, she took out the bits and pieces that seemed important, like who her friends were put with.

"Alright guys here's how we're gonna go about this:  
Wil and Rebecca can take this little route through the forest, and attack the enemy's horsemen by surprise. Lyn, you going to go out here with Priscilla and Erk. Sain and Kent can storm up this hill. Eliwood, you are going to make a circle around the perimeter, think you can do that?"

"Sure."

"Good, after that, help anyone who looks like they might need it. Marcus and I are going to be scanning and sending out reinforcements where needed. Marcus will send off a signal once everyone is sure there are no more bandits, alright?"

"Got it." Everyone nodded. Florina looked up to give a nod before looking down at the ground again.

"Okay. . .lessee who else?. . .Lowen's going here, Oswin's going there, yadda, yadda, yadda. . .These guys are reinforcements. . .oh! _Perfect!_" Florina looked up, wondering what made her tactician so happy.

"Alright team, I'll let Marcus give the signal in a few minutes so get ready!" As many people got up and left, Kit turned to Florina and smiled. "Hey there Hun, I'd like to talk to you about where I'm going to send you." Florina listened up, her knees turned in. "Florina," Kit sat down next to her, a soft tone in her voice. "I've got a shiny new silver lance I'm gonna let you use this battle. . .but I don't think anything is going to change your mindset besides living through It."

"Wh-what? Who am I fighting with?"

"Florina. . ." Kit let out a sigh and patted her shoulder. "I'm going to be sending you along the southern border with Hector." Florina's eyes widened.

"H-Hector?" She felt tears well up in her eyes. "Oh Kit! Please don't put me with him!"

"Florina hunny, I've looked at this battle from every angle, I've researched the enemy's tactics, if I send you anywhere else you'll be doomed, there are archers advancing from every point but the southern border. Everyone else has a near-perfect fit in this battle because they're working in numbers. Hector is the only person who not only can't hit you by accident when attacking, but can defend you from the axe wielding bandits."

"But that means you should send a swordsman!"

"Sorry, but there's axe fighters coming in from everywhere, and I've got no more swordsmen to fight with you." Kit sighed. She looked into Florina's sad eyes and rubbed her shoulder. "Hunny, you know I'd send Lyn with you if I could, you know I'd send Rebecca, or Eliwood, or Priscilla, but I can't."

"B-but H-H-Hector's scary!" Florina stuttered through tears.

"Aw hunny, I know you're scared of him. But I _promise_ that Hector would never ever hurt you. He's really very nice past that first impression. I put you with him because I also trust him. I've never sent you off with Sain, have I?" Florina shook her head.  
"Because I don't trust Sain to protect you, even from himself." Florina wiped her eyes, even though more tears came. "Please just bear with me, Hector would never hurt you on purpose, and I doubt he would on accident." Kit stood up. "C'mon, wipe those eyes and saddle up Huey. She's probably dying to soar in that blue sky." She smiled softly at the Pegasus knight.

"O-okay." Florina nodded.

"And you can also go get that pretty silver lance I told you about." And with that, the tactician left. Florina gulped, she always trusted Kit's judgment, but not when it came to pairing her up with people. Sometimes she would luck out and get a mission with Lyn or Priscilla, other times she'd be stuck with Oswin, or Matthew.

But Hector? Hector was big, and loud, and _scary_. She knew she shouldn't be afraid of her allies, but he was terrifying. She remembered once he tried to strike up a conversation with her on the battlefield; she burst into tears and had to be withdrawn from the fight because she couldn't stop crying. Now she could at least be around a male without another girl around, but Hector was so intimidating. . .She got up and went to the weaponry tent, and picked out the silver lance. It was very pretty, but she could care less about that now. Her tummy hurt. She walked out of the weaponry and over to where she had tethered Huey. The white Pegasus whinnied with joy to see her owner. Florina stroked Huey's nose to quiet her. She could see Kit talking with Hector from a distance. Hector rolled his eyes and snorted, and Kit had a furrowed brow and her eyes were narrowed. Hector shrugged and made his way to the Supply tent. Florina was suddenly thankful she had gotten her lance when she did. She then proceeded to appear too busy to talk by inspecting Huey and adjusting her saddle (which really was fine as it was, but Florina really didn't want to talk to Hector at all.) Hector made his way out with a pair of vulneraries. He then began to walk in her direction, and Florina let out a breath. There was no point in hiding now, but she wished that she could just disappear.

"Hey," His voice shouldn't have startled her, as she knew he was there, but she jumped anyways.

"Uh. . .um. . .uh." She spun around and gripped her elbows.

"Ready to go?"

"Uh. . .Oh! Y-yeah. . ." She nodded, feeling herself shaking. She got onto Huey and gripped the reins. Marcus' voice bellowed out to everyone around to attack. Florina took off into the sky and flew above the forest which gave her flightless companion cover. She was happy to be away from Hector for the moment, but she knew that once they were past the forest she'd have to take to ground again, and thus, be with him. She kept an eye on where he was in the forest, not wanting to lose track of him, even if she was scared of him, she was even more afraid when he was angry, and deserting him would make him just that. Huey gave a small bray in a language only a Pegasus knight could whisper with her beloved winged horse.

'Fly lower Florina, I'm losing sight of Hector.'

"I can see him." Florina explained, running a hand through Huey's mane.

'I think you just don't want to go down there.' Huey's neigh cooed in Florina's ears.

"Only a bit, but I can see him."

'You know Florina,' Huey's whinny was soft. 'It's okay to be afraid, but this kind of fear is irrational. You're worrying about all the bad things that _might_ happen, while never focusing on what wonderful things _could_. I think you should just open up and talk to Hector, you might find you like him.'

"Says the one who he called 'a witless winged horse'. Why would you think he'd not only forgive me for that, but expect me to forgive him for calling you that?"

'Everyone calls me that, and I just don't care. I'm only as witless as I believe myself to be.' Huey's secret language was so soothing in Florina's ears. 'Hector seems to have gotten over it. Besides,' Huey turned her head and tugged lightly on Florina's braid. 'He's pretty cute.'

"Huey!" She giggled, petting the horse's head. She swore she'd _never_ think of Hector that way. "Hey, we're at the forest's end!" She lowered her reigns and pulled Huey slowly to the ground. Hector was catching his second wind to her left, and she was never so happy to see that he was there and not under Huey. She felt herself becoming small and timid again as soon as she remembered why she didn't want to come on this mission.

"U-uh. . .uh. . .L-lord H-Hector? A-are you o-okay. . .?" She stuttered.

"Yeah, just wish you'd fly slower." He breathed, hunched over his knees, gasping for air.

"Oh. . .I-I-I'm sorry. . ." She trembled, blushing madly.

"It's fine." Hector finally stood up, gripping his axe. "Let's see if we can knock out some bandits."

"O-okay. . ." She nodded and looked up at the rolling plains.

"Hey Florina," Hector spoke up again.

"Y-yeah?" Her face was turning redder by the moment.

"Take this, Kit told me to give it to you." Hector handed her one of the vulneraries.

"Th-thanks. . .thank you. . ." She took the vulnerary, shaking. Hector shrugged and scanned the terrain. Florina took a moment to breath, and regain some composure.

"BANDITS!" Hector's voice bellowed, startling Huey as well as Florina. Hector ran forward and swung his axe about wildly. Sure enough, a group of axe-armed bandits were swarming the plain. Florina took to the air, her courage slowly building up. She could fight men, she was either afraid of them or able to kill them, and when she thought of fighting, she could most certainly kill them.

She gripped her sliver lance and thrust it at a thug in front of her. Huey bucked and kicked at the bandit, braying loudly. Florina yanked up on the reigns and took to the sky once she was sure he was dead. She may not have been very strong, but she was smart. She would not place herself in harm's way longer than she needed to, which was why she rarely needed vulneraries. Hector on the other hand. . ._He_ was trying to guzzle a vulnerary, kick a bandit on his left, and get a swing at one with his axe on his right. Had this been another situation (and had it not have been Hector, though that was kind of the joke) she might have laughed. Florina had now killed two bandits, without needing a single vulnerary, and was going for the third. Fourth. Fifth. A bandit got a swing at Huey, which caused her to go ballistic. She conked him in the head with her hooves, which allowed Florina time to strike. Sixth. Florina turned to see how Hector was doing. He was nearly out of vulnerary, and had been cornered by both bandits he had failed to kill. He was slowly backing off, turning to look at either one, when Florina noticed he had a pretty big cut on his cheek.

'Florina! Focus!' Huey brayed and kicked at another bandit.

"I'm focusing!" She whispered loudly to Huey, stabbing the foe. Suddenly, she whipped her head to Hector's scream. He had fallen to the ground,

his axe limply in his hand before the bandits, who were chuckling at his quick defeat.

'Now! Now's the chance!' Huey thought to herself before bucking Florina off her back.

"Huey! What are you doing?" She cried.

'Fight them off Florina! You've got to save Hector!'

"I can't do that without you!" She shouted, her face flushing again.

'I KNOW you can!' Huey whinnied before flying off.

"HUEY!" Florina cried. "Come back Huey!" She turned around to face a couple of grinning bandits.

"Poor little miss. What you gonna do now without your pony?" They teased, closing in around her. She held out her spear in defense, but the tears dripping from her eyes showed weakness in every form.

"Someone help me. . ." She sobbed, her hands shaking as she gripped the lance. A sudden wind rushed in her ears and the galloping of hooves sounded through the air. "Huey?" Suddenly a blue mained steed rushed up in front of her, its rider's icy blue eyes glaring at the bandits.

"What way is this to behave my good men? Attacking innocent ladies." The rider turned and winked at Florina.

"Lord Eliwood!"

"Now I'll give you ten seconds to get out of here before I slice you all up into tiny pieces." The bandits glanced at each other before scrambling out of the area. Eliwood dismounted and wiped his brow. "My gods, playing the tough guy is hard."

"Lord Eliwood!" She grabbed to his waist and sobbed. He let out a chuckle and rubbed her head. "Oh Lord Eliwood thank you. . .I was so scared. . ." She sniffled.

"Not at all Florina. It certainly is a good thing I heard you." He looked her in the eye. "But where's Huey?"

"She bucked me off and flew away." Florina sniffled.

"Goodness! That's not like her."

"I know. . .Thank you for saving me. . ."

"Even without Huey, where's Hector? Wasn't he with you?"

"Hector? Oh Hector! Oh Lord Hector! Oh no!" She let go of Eliwood and ran to where Hector lay. She hesitated once she reached him, but bent down and rubbed at her shoulders nervously. "Oh Lord Hector! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I should have been there to help you!" She bawled. Eliwood came over as well, but he bent down closer to his friend. He placed his head against Hector's chest and listened for his heartbeat.

"Don't worry, he's alive. He doesn't look that great, but he's alive." He took a breath, sitting back.

"I-I guess we have to carry him back to camp." Florina suggested. Eliwood's face drained of all color.

"Carry. . .Hector. . ." he repeated to himself. "Carry him. . .?"

"Yeah."

"As in. . .the both of us?. . .carrying. . .Hector. . .whom is exceptionally blessed with. . .dimensions." Florina suddenly saw what Eliwood was getting at.

"Oh. . ." She began to blush again, and well as shake. In her mind she screamed at Huey for deserting her. Eliwood's mount let out a whinny in teasing.

"YOU'RE going to carry him with us!" Eliwood hissed. The little horse no longer chortled. "Oh well, it can't be helped." Eliwood sighed. "C'mon, let's get moving."

* * *

Gunlord500: Thank you for letting me know about the format! Hopefully this is less squishy and you can read it!

Thanks for reading, if you liked it let me know!


	2. Slow recovery

I'd like to Take a little time to thank the three reviewers on this story *Glares at my fans*

Gespenst23 had a good point to make and I'd just like to clear it up:  
"Just to let you know, Florina's Pegasus is referred to as both Huey, a male Pegasus, and Makar, a female, in FE7. Most likely a mistake. You should call Florina's Pegasus Makar if you want it to be female. . ."

I'm very happy that someone brought this up, I wanted to tell everyone this, but I forgot.

I know that Florina's Pegasus' gender and name are debatable. She calls it both "Huey" and "Makar" in FE7. I personally don't care what you prefer, but when I got the idea for the fiction, I had heard the Pegasus' name was Huey. Now Huey sounds like a guy name, so I assumed it was male.  
Now after a little research and a support or two, I noticed that she called the Pegasus Huey, but then later on (two turns or so after calling it Huey) said "Don't you touch her!"  
After that, I just assumed that Huey was just a masculine sounding name for a female Pegasus. Besides we've got a guy named Dorcas, which I don't know if you knew this, but. . .Dorcas is a FEMALE name! I'm not kidding! XD

I am in no way intending to make anyone look dumb, or prove anyone wrong. I'm just saying that I'm going to toy around with what Fire emblem left me! XD  
(This person had a good point, and in the future I probably will make mostly only Makar a female.)

If I ever write more Fire emblem stories, I will almost positively mess around with the name and gender of Florina's Pegasus, just to keep things fresh.

Anyways, have fun reading!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Slow Recovery**

After a while of struggling, the two of them managed to get Hector back to camp (and the pony helped too). And finally took a breath. Florina heard Eliwood growl something about "Telling Hector to lose weight next time he's seen with his eyes open".

"Alright, I'm glad we got him back. Hopefully a cleric can get a look at him soon. In the meantime. . ." Eliwood placed a hand on Florina's shoulder. "Would you do me a great favor by taking care of him?"

"Wh-what?" She stuttered. "B-but Lord Eliwood! I-I. . ."  
"I know you're scared of him." Eliwood's voice faltered a bit. ". . .But he's my best friend. Please Florina? Only until a cleric can see him?"

Florina was ready to slap herself. What was she thinking? She actually said yes! How could she? Now she was taking care of the man she was so deathly afraid of! But she had made a promise to Eliwood. . .so she couldn't worry about her choices now. She sat in the quarantine tent, looking at Hector's limp body. He may have been heavy, but right now he was so weak. And Florina had to take care of him. She looked at his armour and bit her lip. She had to _touch_ him. She most certainly did not want to touch him at all! But she found herself unstrapping his arm braces and inspecting him arms. A long and very nasty gash ran up one arm, which she quickly poured a vulnerary on, then bandaged. She quickly put the armour back on, not wanting Hector to ask questions if he woke up to find she had removed it. She quickly looked over the rest of his body and decided promptly that if he had damage in any "other places", someone else could check. She then looked at the slash on his face, his face would have been otherwise peaceful had that cut not been stinging so badly. She soaked a cloth in warm water and wiped his face free from blood. Hector's face relaxed once that wound was tended to. His bangs drooped right above his eyes, a little damp with sweat. She curled in her legs and huddled by the unconscious lord.

"Oh Lord Hector, It's all my fault. . .I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. . ." Florina echoed those words for at least twenty minutes while crying. She stopped when she heard the rumble of horses' hooves again. She knew that it was probably not Huey. Huey wouldn't turn up unless someone found her and forced her to come. She recognized the pounding of the fine stallion's hooves anyways. Only Marcus could ride his horse with such a rolling thunder. She heard his voice ring though the air, signifying their victory. Now the bustle of many people could be heard outside. She heard footsteps approaching the tent, and prayed that it was her tactician, or a cleric. She released her breath on seeing Priscilla enter the tent.

"Alright Florina, it's okay. He'll be fine; it's not your fault." Priscilla smiled softly. She held out her staff and concentrated. Hector let out a gasp in his sleep, which of course startled Florina. Priscilla frowned and looked at her staff. She placed a hand on his torso, which caused him to let out another yelp. Her eyes became worried and she rushed out of the tent. Florina was so confused. What was wrong? Didn't Priscilla say he'd be okay?

"Serra! Help! Something's wrong with Hector!" Now both clerics were in the tent.

"Hm. . .HM!" Serra thought out loud. "Priscilla, have you ever heard of 'Internal bleeding'?"

"Yes?"

"Good."

"Why?"

"He has it."

"Well what spell should I use to cure it?"

"Idiot! You can't heal that with your crummy ol' staff! You can only fix that by flushing it out or using a special staff!" Serra bopped Priscilla over the head with her own staff.

"How do you do that?"

"He has to be nursed back to health." Serra folded her arms. "Good thing I was here to help you out Florina, I was able to fix up most of his other wounds, so now you'll have to just nurse him back to health!"

"You? _I_ took care of his other wounds!" Priscilla barked.

"Maybe it wasn't you, maybe I helped in spirit!"  
Florina wasn't even listening to their conversation; she was horrified over the fact that she'd have to take care of Hector even _longer_ than before.

"Wh-why me? I. . .I already took care of him!" She felt her tears coming again. She had seen enough of Hector for one whole day.

"Well your Pegasus is gone, and until we find her you can't fight! That gives you the time." Serra pointed out. Sometimes it felt like Serra was fighting against her just to see her in misery.

"But I don't like being near him!" Florina sobbed.

"Well that's not very nice!" Serra huffed. "I'm glad I'm not you! If Hector heard that he'd break your little neck!"

"H-h-h-h-he w-would?" Florina was nearly having a tremor. Little waterfalls cascaded down her cheeks and her face was burning. She buried her face into her hands and bawled.

"Serra! Stop it!" Priscilla growled. "She's already scared of him!"

"Whoa! No need to get angry!" Serra held up her hands in defense. "I'm going where I'm wanted!" She stormed out of the tent. Priscilla wrapped an arm around Florina.

"If only she did that more often." She joked. Florina wiped her eyes and let out a sniffy giggle. "Don't worry though; he wouldn't get mad at you for not wanting to be near him. As much as you don't like to be around him, I think she's right. But we'll try to make it more bearable for you, okay?" Florina nodded. She was thankful that her friends cared about her. Lyn tip toed into the tent and bent down beside Florina.

"Oh Florina." She rubbed the little Pegasus knight's shoulder gently. "You poor thing." Florina hugged Lyn and sniffled a bit. "I heard about what happened. . ." Lyn spoke softly. "We're trying to see if we can buy a special kind of staff that can heal the bleeding, but it might be a few days before we can get to a shop to buy it. Just hang in there, alright?" Florina nodded, everything was okay when Lyn was around.

Florina finally had a chance to leave the tent to get something for both herself and Hector to eat. It was Lowen's turn to cook tonight, so everyone was in a good mood. She actually didn't mind Lowen; He was shy too, and doubted himself, so she related to him.

"Hi Florina." He smiled a bit and handed her a bowl of hot soup.

"Hi. . ." She waved. She ate her meal first; she finally had a break from sitting with Hector and wanted to savor it. "C-could I have some for Hector?"

"Sure, here you go." Lowen gave a nod, his bangs covered his eyes even if he shook his head. He handed her a second bowl. "Make sure Hector doesn't guzzle it down all at once, orders from Priscilla and Serra."

"Okay." Florina tried to appear happy, but her face was obviously flushed red from crying and her eyes were still a little puffy. She took a breath, which hurt her throat, and made her way back to the tent. Hector was still unconscious, but his face was greatly contorted in pain. He was sweating and breathing hard. Florina got down on her knees and with a trembling hand, shoved Hector's shoulder. "H-Hector? L-Lord Hector?" Hector groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"What happened. . .?" He murmured. He tried to sit up before jerking back into a reclining position.

"Oh. . .Y-you're awake. H-how are you feeling?" She drew her hand close to her once his eyes fully opened.

"Pretty nasty." He moaned. "I got knocked out, didn't I?"

"Y-yeah. . ." Florina bit her lip and nodded. "Y-you have 'internal bleeding'. . .o-or something."

"Great. . .just great. . ." Hector muttered to himself.

"I-I'm sorry. . ." Florina shivered. "I should've been fighting with you I didn't mean-"

"Sheesh, it's _my_ fault Florina, Oswin's gonna have _my_ jaw busted, not yours." Hector rolled his eyes.

"S-sorry. . ." She trembled. She looked around for a distraction. "A-are you hungry?"

"A little." Hector wriggled until he had propped up his upper torso a bit. Florina took the bowl in her hands and stirred the hot soup a bit. She blew on it to make sure it wasn't too hot and then brought it to Hector's lips. She continued to spoon-feed Hector until the bowl was empty. Hector let out an exhausted breath, while Florina thought to herself of how _voracious_ an eater he was (Having gone through a bowl twice as big as the one she had eaten from, when she was getting full halfway through). She kept quiet though; even if she had the courage to say it, she had the intelligence not to. She looked at Hector, and felt a pang of gentle sympathy. She wasn't heartless, so she despite the fact that she was afraid of him, she also felt sorry for him in his current state.

"F-feel any better. . .?" her voice was quiet and a little shaky.

"A bit. . ." Hector mumbled. His chest rose up and down as he breathed. "That helped, thanks." Florina's face flushed. Whether he expected a "you're welcome" or not, she couldn't answer. Her heart was beating so fast, she felt it might come out of her chest. Hector stared up at the top of the tent. Florina decided to use returning the bowl to Lowen as an excuse to leave for a while. She left as quickly as she could and slowly made her way back to the fire. She found Lyn and sat down next to her.

"Florina? Shouldn't you be with Hector?" Lyn asked as soon as the Pegasus knight sat down. Florina took a breath and looked at Lyn sadly.

"Do I _really_ have to take care of him?" She asked Lyn miserably.

"Oh Florina," Lyn rubbed her shoulder again. "Hector wouldn't dream of hurting you, he hasn't the reason, the heart, or the stupidity." Her voice was so gentle. "And if he actually did have all of those, he'd still have the knowledge that I'd kill him." Florina giggled a bit at that, and let out a sigh.

"But still. . ." She mumbled.

"I know you're not used to his behavior, but he's nice deep down inside." Lyn encouraged Florina. "You go back in there and make sure he's doing alright." Florina nodded, but still felt a little sick to her stomach.

With Huey gone, not only could Florina not fight, but most of the time she would normally spend taking care of Huey was gone. She had no excuse for not tending to Hector, aside from a few precious moments that she simply had to leave the tent for. "I have to go to the bathroom" "I need Lord Eliwood's opinion on one of Hector's cuts" "I'm getting breakfast" Small things that only took a little amount of time. She didn't overuse excuses though, that would just be obnoxious. Unfortunately, when she wasn't tending wounds, she was left with one of two options: Reading, or Talking with Hector. In reality she wasn't a big reader, but she'd certainly bring a book in and lock eyes on it, no matter how boring it really was just so she didn't have to talk to Hector. Depending on how Hector was feeling, he would either not mind at all, or be left _very_ bored. He didn't mind when he was sleeping or just tired, but when he was wide awake, he'd tend to get fidgety. Florina knew this, but she was just so timid, she would rather look at that silly book and pretend to be reading. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and asked Florina if he could talk with Eliwood. Florina was greatly pleased by this idea, and suggested that she let them talk alone.

"Well! Well! Well! If it isn't Sir Two-Ton!" Eliwood gave a snarky remark.

"I already told you, I didn't know you had to carry me. I'm sorry." Hector growled. "Thanks for coming though, I was dying of boredom."

"So how are you feeling?" Eliwood sat down on the ground next to Hector.

"My stomach's still a little sore, it will be for a while." Hector explained. "But I don't know if I can last, Florina is so quiet, and I get _so_ bored!"

"She's not that quiet. She's actually a very talkative person. You just have to get to know her." Eliwood replied.

"Is she really? Well I would have never guessed, she barely says a thing!"

"Well when she's with Lyn she's a chatter storm." Eliwood chuckled. "She's so funny, and very sweet."

"Another one to add to your collection?" Hector mused.

"Excuse me? I'm _not_ in love with Florina! I only love one girl anyways!" Eliwood blushed madly.

"Who?" Hector prodded.

"I'm not telling you!" Eliwood continued blushing.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave you alone." Hector chortled. The both of them became quiet before Hector opened his mouth. "Niniaaaaaaan. . ."

"OH SHUT UP!" Eliwood screamed. Hector let out a laugh. "Well I'm glad to see _you're_ in a good mood." Eliwood pouted. "Alright, you got it. Just don't tell anyone."

"Not a problem." Hector nodded. Just then, Marcus called for Eliwood.

"Oh, I gotta go. Great talking with you buddy! I'll see you later!" And with that, Eliwood was gone.  
Florina was back in the tent within minutes, now she was checking up on Hector's arm and washing it with warm water.

"I-it's closing up a bit. . ." she stuttered, trying to think of something to say, but she immediately regret opening her mouth.

"Yeah, it is." Hector looked over at his arm. "You've been taking good care of it." Her whole face began to burn up.

"Uh-huh. . ." She squeaked out. She could barely say anything. 'Oh gods no, don't try to talk to me. . .' she thought, feeling that she might tear up if he lit into her.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were a cleric!" he chuckled. She began to shake.

"Uh-. . .uh-huh." She stuttered, even when she wasn't actually saying anything. She finished soaking Hector's wound and bandaged it right away.  
"I-I have to go dump this in the grass." She explained, before rushing out of the tent. Hector stared up at the top of the tent until Florina came back. She picked up her book and pretended to enjoy it.

"What are you reading?" Hector mumbled, listlessly. Florina nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Um. . .uh. . .j-just some riding-tactics. . ." She really had no clue.

"Neat." Hector mused, glancing over at her. He couldn't see her reddening face from behind the book. "So your Pegasus' name is Huey?" Florina's heart rate went up.

"Y-yes. . ." She stuttered.

"How long have you had Huey?" Hector inquired.

"Uh. . .E-ever since. . .I w-was. . .s-s-six." She quivered. It took her a full ten seconds to remember the question being asked.

"So he's very special to you?" Florina wanted to tell Hector that Huey was a she, and that her name just sounded masculine, but she had never corrected a man before.

"Um. . .H-Huey's a. . .a. . .a sh-she. Sh-she's a girl." Florina was trembling and she felt the tears building up in her eyes. She buried her face into the book so he wouldn't get any notion that she was upset.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Anyways, Huey's special to you?"

"Y-yes. . ." She felt her voice crack. Hector didn't notice, which Florina didn't know whether to think of as a good thing or a bad thing.

"Hm." He gave a nod. "I'm sorry you lost her, I hope she turns up soon."

"I-i-it's okay. . ." Florina whispered, she reached up and wiped her eyes.

"If not I'll go out and find her for you." He offered. Florina couldn't take it anymore. She knew Huey could take care of herself, but she certainly couldn't! Not with Hector around! She was so weak and helpless and terrified, and Huey had the nerve to leave her with that man! She immediately looked around for a reason to leave, she was getting good at that.

"Um, I have to go get dinner ready, it's my turn. . .I-I'll be back." She got up and left, very thankful that it was in fact her turn to make dinner.

Florina got as far from the tent as possible and shed a few tears. She had told herself over and over again that Hector would most certainly _not_ hurt her. And yet she was still scared to death of him. After wiping her eyes and calming down, she went over to the supplies tent and got some ingredients. Soon, the scent of meat and rice had drawn much of the troop out of their tents. She ate relatively quickly; she had the appetite of a baby bird to begin with. After downing her meal, she felt the sinking feeling of having to return to her patient. Lowen had offered to serve everyone else, and though it was a thoughtful thing to do, Florina wished he hadn't done so.

"L-lord Hector?" She entered the tent with a bowl of steaming rice and little pieces of pork. She lightly held the chopsticks between her fingers.

"Hey." He murmured passively.

"I-I brought your dinner." She kneeled down on the ground next to him.

"Oh, thank you." He sat up the best he could.

"S-Serra says. . .not to eat t-too fast." She added in. Hector was slowly but surely healing, and at this point he could eat by placing the bowl on his lap and using his right hand.

"Sure, not a problem." He took the bowl and chopsticks from Florina's quivering hands. Unfortunately "Not a problem" meant "As if I care what Serra thinks" and he began to practically scarf his meal. Florina was both generally concerned, and annoyed that he was making it difficult, and got up the courage to glare at him. He took note of this and shrugged with a somewhat hapless look on his face. She softly took the chopsticks away from him and the bowl in her hand. His eyebrows narrowed and he let out a snort.  
"I'm sorry _Mother_, I'll eat slower next time." He grumbled. Florina's face, though timid, certainly showed she was miffed.

"It's so you don't you don't make your tummy hurt even more." Hector held in a laugh. _Tummy_? Of all the words she could have used! Tummy was so cute and small. And Hector was neither of those things. It just seemed so silly that she'd used that word, but it was of no matter. Hector rolled his eyes and leaned back a bit.

"Open up your mouth." Florina's voice was soft, but she managed to maintain her assertive tone. Hector did so, but gave an exaggerated "Ahhh" as well. Florina felt as if this would take forever, he was not only scary to her, but he was also being so _annoying!_ Finally he had eaten the entire bowl and she could leave for a few minutes.

"Florina?" Hector asked as she was going.

"Yeah?" She was annoyed, so her stutter had ceased for the time being.

"Could I see Matthew?" Hector lay back down again.

"Sure." She was happy to have a break from him entirely.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this! If you have any suggestions(appreciated), tips(greatly appreciated), or praise(HIGHLY appreciated XDDD) please review!


	3. Thief in the afternoon?

Hey guys! Kit again, here with the next chapter of Hard on the Heart! (Which I think is the suckiest title I've yet come up with. . .except "I'm Cold because I care" was kinda lame)

There's not much I want to address, just the usual thanks for reviews.

Enjoy the chapter! (This time I won't be putting any author's notes at the bottom because I have very little to say this time around.)

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Thief in the. . .Afternoon?**

"Hello Young Lord, how are you feeling?" Matthew dangled upside down from the tent's ceiling like a bat.

"I'm alright. Matthew, you're observant, why is Florina so fidgety and jumpy?" Hector got straight to the point, not wanting to waste time.

"Isn't it obvious? She's scared to death of you!" Matthew gave a shrug.

"But why?" Matthew let out a sputtering laugh.

"That should be obvious too! You're a man, you're huge, you're loud-mouthed, you have this thing," Matthew held up Armads. Hector nearly fell over.

"Where did you get that?"

"I found it." Matthew shrugged.

"Give it back!"

"You're sick! You can't use it!"

"Come on! Give it back before you break it!"

"It's an _axe_ Hector! I'm not gonna break it!" Matthew snickered as Hector hissed at him angrily. "I'll give it back if you can get Florina to not be afraid of you!"

"Matthew! You know that's never going to happen!"

"True that! Like she'd warm up to you!" Matthew chortled. "I'll tell you what," Matthew's laughter died down. "If you can get Florina to not be afraid of you, I'll return half the stuff I've stolen from you."

"All of it."

"Half."

"All of it."

"Half."

"SERRA!"

"Shh! Hector!" Matthew became meek and submissive. "Alright fine, all of it. But only if Florina is one-hundred percent comfortable around you, and no lying or cheating."

"Same goes for you, I'll never let you rest if I find out you didn't come through on your part."

"Deal." Matthew winked. "Well, I'll be off then. Nice talking with you Young Master."

"Likewise." Hector gave a nod. The thief leapt down from the ceiling and left the tent in a sprint. Hector wasn't sure if to actually attempt to take up this challenge or to pass up the deal. Having all his stuff back would be nice, but Florina was going to take a lifetime to befriend. Aside from getting his things back, he'd gain a friend in Florina. It was a nice option, but how was he to go about it? The only reason Florina would come near him was because she had to. He hadn't forgotten about the time she burst into tears when he had attempted to just talk with her . . . He was trying to be nice, that's all. Lyn had told him he was too rough and that he wasn't open enough. And apparently Lyn had proven that to be true. If Florina cried when he tried to talk to her, how could he get her to warm up to him?

"H-Hector?" Florina's voice broke his train of thought. "Are y-you done talking with Matthew?"

"Yeah, he left." He gave a stretch. Florina came back in and sat down next to him. "Um . . . Florina?"

"Y-yes?" She began to shake.

"This is kind of weird . . . but. . ." Hector thought for a moment. ". . . Could you read to me?"

"Uh . . . s-sure. . ." Florina began to turn red. "W-what do . . . you w-want me t-t-to read you?"

"It doesn't really matter." He shrugged. "Whatever you want to read."

"Oh . . . O-okay." She picked up her Pegasus book. "D-do you mind if I r-read you this?" She hid behind the book.

"Sure, you can read that." Hector nodded. Florina fumbled with it until she opened it up and began reading. She not only found it awkward to read aloud, but her shyness was getting the better of her. She slipped up on the words every so often, but Hector didn't mind. 'Florina is timid and very shy. She will never come out of her shell if she knows what lies in wait is anger.' He focused on her and let her know it was okay when she slipped up.

"And this ganter. . .I-I-I mean canter! C-canter! W-with a C!"

"It's alright, I knew what you meant, I'm not mad." He chuckled softly.

"Uh-. . .um. . .anyways, this type of canter. . .c-can be done o-on clouds." She was a little confused. She thought Hector would be mad if she messed up, but he was being very calm and understanding. She continued on, wondering why he was doing this, but also noticing she wasn't afraid to slip up anymore. And because she wasn't afraid to, she slipped up less. Hector noticed this right away, but kept quiet, enjoying the sound of her soft voice reading to him. It had crossed his mind maybe once in the past, but he had brushed it off as being a man. However now, he had come to the conclusion, that Florina was very, very cute. She was timid and sweet, and she was extremely tiny. He felt the need to protect her and care for her spread throughout his mind. Maybe befriending her would be worth it.  
Florina however was still afraid of Hector. She wasn't afraid to read to him because he wasn't actually saying nor doing anything to her, nor did he get mad when she messed up. But actually talking with him was perturbing.  
"Th-there are some Pegasii knights wh-who can use a-axes. B-but it takes a l-long time to learn how. S-so they're really rare." Florina showed him a picture of a heavy built Pegasus whose rider was reared back with an axe in hand.

"That's one big Pegasus."

"Um. . .I-it's sort of like a d-draft horse. . .sort of. . ." Florina faltered. Hector gave a shrug, signaling Florina to continue reading. Eventually Hector had grown sleepy, and could barely keep his eyes opened. He glanced at Florina's hand and let his fingertips touch it. Florina jumped a little bit, and began to turn bright red. She waited until Hector was asleep before moving his hand away from her. His hands were so big, he could probably crush her little body with no effort. Maybe that added to the fear factor? It certainly had to, he was enormous compared to her. Even Eliwood was miniature next to Hector, and they were the same age! How come Eliwood wasn't scared of him? Or Lyn? Lyn was even smaller than Eliwood, and yet Lyn didn't even flinch when Hector was in a bad mood or recklessly hacking at the enemy. Maybe Florina had no reason to be afraid. . .well yes she did; Hector was a loud-mouthed oaf who could probably kill her effortlessly! That was a terrifying thing to have to live with if she was taking care of him. But. . .now he was sleeping. . .he looked so harmless. What was the word. . . cute? _No_. Absolutely not cute_,_ Florina certainly did not think of him as cute at all. But he wasn't so scary. . .What was the word?. . .whatever it was, he wasn't _that_ scary when he was nuzzled into his covers, breathing lightly. Florina felt an odd urge to brush a bit of his hair out of his eyes. She immediately shooed the feeling away, figuring it was her insane side. Florina bookmarked the page she was on and put the book down. She got up and left the tent to ask Kit if there was any sight of Huey. Unfortunately Huey hadn't returned, but Florina wasn't surprised. She knew her beloved Pegasus wouldn't come back until she had gotten over being afraid of Hector . . . she was beginning to wonder if she'd ever see that horse again.  
Afterwards, she returned to the tent and blew out the candle. She lied down against the side of the tent and fell asleep. . .

The next morning, Florina wasn't so hesitant to return to the tent and eat her meal there with Hector.

"You're back early." He commented upon seeing her quick arrival.

"I. . .I thought I'd eat in h-here. . .today. . .I-is that okay?" She asked.

"Sure, it's fine." Hector chuckled. Florina still spoon-fed him, not trusting him to follow Serra's orders. She was no longer afraid of doing things like taking care of his wounds, but if he tried to talk to her, or if she touched him without actually having to, she'd become limp and scared. She had taught herself how to spoon-feed him without actually touching him, so she wasn't afraid to do that. After he finished, he let out a breath and groaned. For the first time she had seen, he was actually full. "Owww. . ." He murmured. He placed his hand on his stomach. He had eaten a lot, and the fact that he swallowed so fast didn't help. "My stomach. . ." he moaned. Florina shook her head, she would have scolded him if she was braver. She went to get Priscilla, Serra would go on an hour-long rant if she saw that Hector didn't obey her orders.

"Hm. . ." Priscilla murmured. "Well it looks alright now, I'm guessing that his internal wound must've been disrupted by him eating so fast. It was thoughtful of you to come get me Florina, good work." Priscilla concluded.

"So what should I do about it?" Hector noticed Florina didn't stutter or even pause when talking to Priscilla.

"Well, I suggest that you just let him relax for a while. It shouldn't be a problem, but I want you to let either me or Serra know if he can't control his bladder. Then it's a bit more serious." Florina nodded. After Priscilla left, she decided to check up on his arm. The gash was now a thin white line, and she was thankful that tonight would probably be her last time checking up on it. Even though it had closed up, she still washed it so it could continue to heal quickly.

"I want to thank you for all you've done for me Florina." He spoke calmly.

"Um. . .uh. . .Y-y-you're welcome. . ." her face became crimson. Hector didn't say anything else, he just looked up at the ceiling of the tent. Florina let out a breath and dried off his arm. It was so thick and muscly, she didn't even know a person could be so bulky. She shook her head out of the clouds and put his arm-guard back on. She was just leaving to throw out the water, when she bumped into Lyn.

"Florina! Just the person I wanted to see. Guess what?" Florina shrugged while dumping the water onto the grass. "We might be able to get that special staff as soon as tomorrow!" Florina wanted to jump for joy, finally she didn't have to take care of Hector anymore!  
"Now Florina, he's going to be able to move around again, but he won't be able to fight again for about three more days after that. You won't have to interact with him, but I want you to help out around camp too until we find Huey. Okay?" Florina nodded eagerly, she didn't care, just so long as she didn't have to interact with him anymore! Sure she didn't mind him being in her presence as much, but Hector was still Hector, and nothing was going to change that. Just one more day until Florina was free. . .

That evening, Eliwood decided to visit the quarantine tent for a while, Florina was cleaning up a few things and organizing the tent while he and Hector talked.

"So do you know what I should get her? I mean her birthday's coming up. . ." Eliwood mumbled.

"How about flowers?" Hector suggested.

"Nah, flowers are nice, but I want to give her something I know she really, really wants."

"Okay, how about a necklace?"

"Maybe. . ." Eliwood put his hand to his chin. Florina knew what Ninian really wanted; she wanted to have a picnic with Eliwood on the rolling planes that surrounded the camp. Florina would tell Eliwood of this, but later, when Hector wasn't around.

"Pardon me boys." Lyn made her way into the tent and over to Florina. "Hello Florina, do you need some help?"

"Oh no thanks Lyn, I'm good." Florina smiled. Hector didn't know what it was or why, but he had a sinking feeling in his chest as she smiled. . .she was so happy when she wasn't being reminded that he was there. . .

"Alright, anyways that's not the reason that I came in here. Firstly, did you want to come and get the staff with us, or did you want to stay here?"

"Um. . .I'm not sure." Florina's look became introspective. "Give me some time to decide, okay?" She asked.

"Alright, you have until tomorrow to decide." Lyn nodded. "Hey Eliwood, if Florina decides to come with us, will you take care of Hector?"

"Sure." Eliwood murmured casually.

"I'm so happy Hector's going to be better." Florina spoke excitedly to Lyn. Hector knew that meant "I'm so glad I don't have to take care of that man anymore." He tried to ignore this and talk to Eliwood some more.

"Alright. Kit's riding with Lowen and I'm walking, so you can ride with Priscilla if Huey doesn't turn up by then." Lyn explained. Eliwood came over now.

"You know, you could ride my horse, I'm not going to need him if I'm taking care of Hector." He suggested.

"No, it's alright Lord Eliwood."

"I insist! He's very gentle, it's just like riding a Pegasus without the flying."

"Eliwood if she doesn't want to use him, she doesn't have to."

"Alright, I'm just giving a suggestion." Eliwood shrugged. Hector suddenly let out a gasp of pain. He sucked in air between his teeth and clenched his fists.

"Hector? What's wrong?" Lyn looked over.

"Oh gods. . .I think I just _wet myself_." Hector sounded both in pain and embarrassed. Florina's face drained of all color until it was the same shade as her orchid-white hair.

"He can't control his bladder. . ." Florina whispered. But the words were too quiet to be heard. . .


	4. Midsummer's Nightmare

Hey guys! Sorry it took so long, but I finished the next chapter!

I'd like to thank Hyralc for letting me know in the last chapter "A thief in the. . .afternoon" I spelled "Theif" wrong.  
Second pet peeve: Having people read a story, and then find out a year after I wrote the story, there's a major typo and no one told me (I forget my first pet peeve) XD

I'd also like to thank Mattyboy91 for his loyal reviews, as well as Sir Ashley3wl.

Oh, and I made a promise to Ashley3wl that I'd put a certain green haired swordsman in the story. He's not in this chapter, but he will definitely make an appearance soon (No guarantees about his personality, but I'll put him in for sure) Oh we will have fun tormenting Matthew! XD

Anyways, get yourself a nice cup of cocoa and some cookies and enjoy yourself some HecFlor!  
(I hope whatever country you live in is much warmer than cold, snowy North America DX)

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Mid-summer's Nightmare**

Florina had run out of the tent in a flurry, telling Serra and Priscilla what had happened in a frantic jumble of words. They ran right over to the quarantine tent and made their way inside.

"Okay Hector, okay just calm down." Priscilla bent down, "So you can't control your bladder muscles?"

". . .N-no. . ." Hector flinched. "Ouch. . ."

"MAKE WAY! THE DOCTOR'S IN!" Serra shouted, making her way into the tent. "Now what's the problem?"

"He's got gastrointestinal bleeding." Priscilla explained.

"HM!" Serra thought out loud. "Lyn! Go get Oswin! Eliwood, you help him sit up! This is MAN'S work!" Serra directed. Soon, Lyn was standing outside the tent while Hector's male comrades huddled inside. Florina ran up to Lyn after regaining a little composure.

"What's happening? What's going on? Is he hurt? Wi-"

"Florina, calm down." Lyn told hold of her friend's shoulders. "Maybe we can't do anything, but panicking isn't going to make the situation any better." Lyn's voice was firm. Florina shuddered.

"Is he going to die?" Florina may have been scared of him. She may have hated having to talk to him, or feared taking care of him, but Hector didn't deserve to die! Not now! He was still so young! Lyn's grip loosened and she sighed.

"At this point, I don't know." She admitted. "But we're letting Serra and Priscilla have a look at him, and we'll know soon enough." Florina felt her body shutting down. She collapsed to the ground and hugged herself.

"I'm sorry. . .it's all my fault. . .it's all my fault. . .I didn't mean to kill him. . ." she sobbed.

"Florina, Hector's stronger than that. I don't know how bad it is, but knowing him he'll probably be fine. And it's not your fault." Lyn spoke softly. They glanced up to hear rustling and conversation in the tent.

"Well he needs to be healed or else he _will._"

"But we don't have-"

"Then someone's going to have to go out and GET IT."

"You girls stay here and make sure he's okay, I'm going to go get that staff." Eliwood's voice became the only one audible. He quickly made his way out of the tent and towards where he had tethered his horse. Lyn blocked his path and locked eyes with him.

"I'm coming with you. Don't try to fight me Eliwood; I always win." Eliwood didn't even try to protest. "Florina, do you want to come?" Florina was tied. She wanted to get away from this place, but she also wanted to stay. Could she abandon Hector? Could she stay and be miserable?

"I. . .I don't know. . ." She bit her lip. Eliwood came over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Florina listen, you don't have to go in the tent. You can have a break if you want. I don't need two of you in misery." He took his hand off of her shoulder and turned to Lyn. "Get Kit." He ordered. Lyn disappeared into a neighboring tent and returned with the fox-eared tactician. Soon, Florina was left standing alone in the middle of the camp. She kneeled down in the grass and sniffled to herself.

"Oh Huey!" She cried. "Why did you have to leave? I'm scared! Lord Hector is hurt! I don't know what to do!" a warm breeze swirled around her, whisking her tears up into the air like little raindrops. She wiped her eyes, suddenly hearing the soft footsteps of light boots. She turned around to see the green-clad bard, Nils.

"You don't look so good." He commented. Aside from being close to Ninian, Nils was prepubescent, which caused Florina less stress to be close to him. Nils liked Florina because she was gentle and he trusted her. Nils lifted his flute to his mouth. "Will a song make you feel better?" He asked hopefully. Florina didn't want to hurt Nils' feelings, so she nodded. Besides, maybe it would make her feel a bit better. Nils hit each note softly, knowing that Florina needed a comforting song. The notes flowed into the breeze and floated on the current of air. Florina was still troubled, but she did feel rejuvenated. She thanked Nils for his time, and stood up. She entered the tent and alerted Serra that she would fetch anything they needed. She spent the next ten minutes running back and forth, getting medical herbs and cloths. She didn't actually enter the tent, she handed the supplies through the flap and listened for orders. Eventually Florina had stopped all together, and just listened as shouts filled the tent.

"He's ruptured something! Where are Lyn and Eliwood?"

"I'm not sure, they aren't back from getting the staff yet." Florina gave a sigh, wishing that she could reverse this. She was thankful when she heard the rumble of Eliwood's horse, and saw her two friends and the tactician returning. Eliwood dashed into the tent and gave Serra the staff. Hector's yelps of pain had ceased as the sound of healing were heard, and he reverted to a heavy breathing. Eliwood's head popped out of the tent and nodded to Lyn. Lyn took Florina's arm and lead her in to see how Hector was. Florina felt a stab of pain herself as she saw Hector. His lower body had a thin coat of blood on it (which Priscilla was mopping up) and though they were few in number, tears of pain rolled down his face. He was breathing hard and sweating even harder.

"Hector," Eliwood bent down and gave Hector's shoulder a shove. "C'mon buddy, open your eyes!" Eliwood's face displayed every form of fear and concern. Hector's blue eyes slowly opened and his breathing slowed down as the staff's properties took effect. Eliwood let out a breath of relief and sat back. Florina was at ease to know that Hector was alive and slowly getting better. Now that she knew he was okay, she hid behind Lyn. Lyn let out a chuckle and pulled her friend out from hiding.

"So he's good to go?" She asked, letting Florina cling to her side, but not allowing her behind her back.

"Yeah, let him rest until morning and he'll be fit enough to do labor, but he's not allowed to do any fighting. He can help out around the camp, but don't put him in danger." Priscilla explained. Kit stood in the tent as well, a cool gaze on her face. She nodded and jotted some things down in her notebook. She fussed around with her abacus before looking up again.

"Thank you for the heads up Priscilla." Kit turned to the red-haired cleric. Serra gave a very loud cough and a look of disapproval spread across her face. Kit rolled her eyes and sighed. "And thank you Serra for healing Hector."

"Oh! I'll do it any time you like darling!" Serra's disposition immediately changed. Kit shook her head a bit before leaving. Eventually Serra and Priscilla left the tent as well, followed by Oswin and the two lords. Florina bent down and twiddled her fingers a bit, not daring to look Hector in the eye. Soon she just let out a sigh and began to babble out unending apologies. Hector lifted his arm up and signaled for her to stop.

"I get it, you're sorry. You didn't do anything wrong though, so you don't need to apologize." He mumbled. Florina nodded, though she still felt that she could have prevented it.

"Y-you aren't m-mad at me?" Florina quivered.

"How can I be? You didn't do it." Hector shook his head sighing.

"Okay. . ." Florina's voice was still melancholy. "So you feel alright now?"

"Yeah, I just need some sleep for the effects to fully take over." Hector murmured. Florina gave a solemn nod and picked up the lantern in the tent.

"Good night." She whispered as she left him alone in the darkness.

* * *

I plan on having the next chapter up some time between this and next week, but crap happens and I can't say for sure. I will get it up by the end of the month, that's a promise I can make. XD But seriously, between being a beta-reader, school, and publishing my novel, life is a bowl of cherries, and I keep getting the pits XDDD

Ta!~


	5. That Stupid Tactician!

DUN DUN DUN! Attack of the short chapter! D:

Meh, I'm working my butt off, so that's the catch for me finishing it in one night!

And I did keep my promise, a certain swordsman is in the story now! So we'll be taking a short break from Hector and Florina now and then so we can shine the light on our quarreling duo.  
*Gets such joy from not saying who characters are for no actual reason*  
I can't say I nailed his personality (I failed to recruit him, so you can blame Marcus for being too powerful and killing him) but let's just say he and Matthew will take turns being the straight man. XD

Anyways, hope you like my rediculously short chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**That Stupid Tactician!**

The next morning, Florina offered to take care of the troupes' mounts. Florina was naturally at home with any beast of burden, and got to feeding them early that morning. Heath would still have to care for his dragon, as she had no clue how to care for it, but she did take care of the horses. Sain's horse greeted her with a nudge as if to say "Sorry that my master is a Casanova." She gave him a pat on the head and gave him some fresh water. As he drank, she brushed his mane free of tangles and sleeked down his coat with a curry brush. After drinking, she then gave him his meal, which consisted of soaked barley, oats, and chaff. After his breakfast, she pat him on the head and went to go take care of the other horses. She went over to the bale of hay in the corner and tried to pick it up. Unfortunately it was too large and heavy for her to carry. She couldn't find a pitchfork to pry it apart with, so she tried to shove it over. She didn't dare lead Marcus' horse over though; she was a stranger, and she had no right to try and handle him. Suddenly, she felt the presence of someone else. She didn't even have to turn around, nor did she want to; she knew who it was.

"Hey, do you need some help?" Hector came over. She turned around slowly and gave a weak nod. Hector chuckled and lifted up the bale without effort. "Where do you want it?" Florina pointed over at Marcus' eggshell steed. Hector brought it over and undid the string for her. The white horse immediately tucked into the sweet alfalfa letting out a content whinny. "There ya go." Hector walked back to Florina and patted her firmly on the head. Florina felt her heart pumping at a thousand beats a minute, she was terrified, and all he had done was pat her on the head. She gave a shaky nod and looked away. "If you need any more help, let me know, alright?" Hector smiled at her.

"Uh-huh." She whispered. She couldn't even look up at him to nod; _talking _was a more attractive option than that. Hector gave her head one final pat and left. She collapsed to the ground and began to breathe heavily. Little beads of water formed in her eyes, he had never touched her so boldly before and prior to this crazy line-up of events he had never touched her at all. His touch was so firm, he had enough strength to snap her neck with one strike, and yet he didn't. She quickly wiped her eyes and regained her composure. 'It's okay.' She told herself. 'He's gone now, he can't hurt you.' She sat up and watched Marcus' horse eat. His ears were forward, intent on his meal. She stood up and checked up on Kent's and Priscilla's horses before leaving. It was actually pretty early, about five in the morning. She and a few other people woke up so early, namely those who had things to be doing. She could see the sun slowly rising over the tree tops. She wanted Huey back so badly; she longed to fly up to meet that morning sun. Florina shook her head a bit and looked around for something to do. Just then, she saw Kit with a rather miffed look on her face, walk out of her tent followed by Sain. Her hair was in its usual spiraling locks, if a little frizzy. Florina noticed that Kit was not only up at an hour she normally slept far past, but she was also dressed and carrying her equipment. She made a motion to Sain and went into the strategy tent. Sain called for all eligible fighters to come to the tent.

Inside, Kit was spreading out her supplies when everyone came into the tent.

"Alright guys, I know it's early, but there are bandits in the area. And from what Sain tells me, they have the forest surrounded." A couple of murmurs rippled through the group. "Now I'm going to show you guys the basic plan for when we're surrounded on all sides." Kit spread out a diagram on the huge table in the middle of the tent. She explained where certain people would be going depending on class. "Okay, aside from magic users, mounted fighters, and archers, that leaves. . ." Kit spoke to herself for a moment. "Alright, Matthew, you're going with Guy." Guy's jaw dropped and his face drained of color.

"Hey! I guess you're working with me buddy!" Matthew leaned on Guy's shoulder, mischief glittering in his chestnut eyes.

"With _him_? But Kit!" Guy let out a whine.

"We'll talk after when I show you the route you're gonna take." Kit sighed. Guy let out a breath of defeat and annoyance. Matthew on the other hand, seemed thrilled to have a chance at agitating the myrmidon. "Anyways," Kit got back on track, trying to keep herself focused. "Um . . . uh. . ." She trailed off, she clearly hadn't thought this far. ". . . Th-the axe fighters can go here . . . and uh . . . Oswin here. Nils and Ninian can go off here, and can come in when I signal them to. Okay! Break a leg guys!" Kit slapped her hands together as the group broke up and left. Guy still pouted, but made his way over to her to receive his orders.

"Why would you-"

"I know, I know. I know you hate Matthew's guts, but just bear with me on this one okay?" Kit clearly was making this plan up as she went along. "You two are going to take the escape route out of the forest and scale the perimeter of the place. You can keep whatever you find."

"Question." Guy held up a hand.

"What is it?"

"Do I have to share it with him?"

"Come on Guy!" Kit groaned. "Whoever finds it gets to keep it." She rubbed her temples. "You know where everyone else is on the field, so if you need something, you can go get them. I'm going with Lyn if you need me, but only come and find me if there's a _real _problem." Guy grumbled a bit, but nodded. Kit then told him to go get an iron sword from Merlinus for both himself and Matthew.

After doing so, Matthew and Guy made their way out of the grassy clearing, and into the dense forest. Guy decided that this was a good time to give Matthew a little payback. He started off by poking the rogue every few seconds, and ended up attempting to hit him over the head with a stick he had found lying on the ground. Matthew, dodging Guy's swings almost effortlessly, thought over the situation. Suddenly he stopped. He searched through the files in his brain again. And again. And again . . . something was not right with Kit's strategy.

"Whoa, hold it there kid." He grabbed Guy's ponytail and yanked him back.

"Hey! What's the deal?" Guy hissed and shoved Matthew.

"Something doesn't feel right."

"Well you might just be paranoid, I don't feel a thing."

"Where is Oswin stationed?" Matthew asked.

". . . Huh?"

"Just answer my question."

"In the East, further back." Guy replied casually.

"What about Dorcas?"

"He's with Bartre in on the northern front."

"Serra? Erk? Lucius? Canas? Priscilla?"

"All the magic users are positioned in the West." Matthew searched harder.

"How about Kent and Sain?"

"With all the other cavaliers in the south." Matthew pounded at his head. He named off more, and Guy told him each person's position until a concerned look spread across Matthew's face.

"Guy. . ." Matthew trailed off, a hand to his chin with a furrowed brow and wide eyes.

"What?" Guy let out a shrug.

". . . If we're all fighting, who's protecting camp?" Guy thought for a moment before it dawned on him.

"No one. Hector and Florina are the only two people there." Guy finally responded. They looked at each other in dead silence as a leaf blew by their faces.

"Kit left the camp completely vulnerable with two troops that can't even fight." Matthew's voice and mind were off, as if he himself had something wrong with him.

* * *

Golly, I'm one stupid tactician! XD:

Whatever, Matthew and Guy can fight for themselves! I can't fight at all! I just tell them what to do!

I hope to see reviews!


	6. Ambush grounds

Hey guys!  
Sorry it took so long to update, but Valentine's day came, and my sister got sick, and blah blah blah. . . yeah, my personal life has no meaning, I KNOW you all just came to see the chapter! XD

I'd like to thank my reviewers, you all helped me keep Guy more in character for this chapter!

(To all that haven't already reviewed/want to state the obvious after me saying so) Yes, I KNOW Guy and Matthew seem flipped in chapter 5, but I PROMISE that Matthew will bother Guy too in this chapter! Honest! (I also figured "Wouldn't Guy just love a chance to get Matthew good? Y'know, as payback for reminding him that he still owes him big time, all these years?")  
Both will perform major comic relief throughout the story though, so expect to see them looking at the other like he's a lunatic from time to time.

Whatever, I'm a sucky tactician and I left the camp in the grips of bandits. Will Guy and Matthew be able to save the day? How can Florina fight without a Pegasus? Why am I asking you these questions?

Read.

And be nice.

But not sugar-coated.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Ambush Grounds**

"ARGH! THAT IDIOT! I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE LEFT THE CAMP COMPLETELY UNPROTECTED!" Matthew could only scream at the top of his lungs.

"What do we do?" Guy began to worry. "Florina can't fight without her Pegasus, and Priscilla doesn't want Hector fighting!"

"Come on! We have to get back there!" Matthew grabbed Guy's arm and bolted towards the camp.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What about our post?"

"What's more attractive? Two dead troops and the whole camp ransacked, or only a couple of bandits invading where we not only know our surroundings, but we have access to all the weapons we want?"

"Yeah but the bad guys could just take our weapons." Guy murmured.

"Oh, SHUT UP. Come on, we've gotta get back to camp!" Matthew began running again.

Florina was bringing some fresh alfalfa in for the horses when they were to return, when she was grabbed.

"Don't be making too much movement little miss." A bandit cackled as he held his hand over her mouth. "You wouldn't want that pretty little head o' yours rollin' on the ground where it might get dirty." Florina tried to scream, but of course the bandit's hand kept her from making any noise. She kicked and squirmed and did whatever she could to get out, but to no avail. She was much too small to do anything against bandits without her Pegasus. "Now listen here lassie," the bandit's coarse voice sounded in her ear. "If yer a good girl, we won't kill ya. In fact, ya might just go home with one o' us. How would ya like that girlie?" Florina was terrified, she didn't want to die. But she certainly did not want to go with them at all! She wanted to stay here, where only Sain dared to hit on her openly, and he meant no harm. Oh she wished that someone, anyone was here to save her. Well, there was a pair of boys sneaking around the back of the stable, but she couldn't see them.

"Okay, here's the plan: I distract them from Florina, and then you come in and kill off as many as you can. While that's happening, I'll sneak off and get Hector to help us fight."

"Why do _you_ get to have a break from fighting? That means _I'll_ be doing all the work!"

"Oh my _gods_ Guy, that is so childish! Florina's life is at stake! Even if that wasn't good enough a reason, Hector knows, loves, and trusts me." Guy gave Matthew a cynical look. ". . . Well he knows and trusts me!" Guy shook his head. "Look, after that you get a break, and I'm going to get Hector because he could probably sweep the floor with these guys." Guy was still unimpressed. "I promise I won't leave you for that long, okay? I'll come and help you as soon as I can." Matthew sighed.

"Fine. . ." Guy grumbled. He unsheathed his sword and padded to the other side of the stable. Matthew stood on the tips of his toes to get a peek inside. Florina was in the corner, tied up. She wasn't gagged, but only because she didn't need to be; she was too quiet and scared to cry for help anyways. A few bandits entered and looked around. There were no horses in the stable since everyone who could ride was out fighting. But there might be a few things laying around of interest to a group of bandits. Matthew thought for a moment before a sinister grin spread across his face. He reached into one of his satchels and kept a firm grip onto its contents.

"Behold a fine work of art." He stated softly to himself. "Ostian Flash powder. The best thing for putting the enemy in a muddle and whipping up chaos. This recipe is _only_ given out to the_ finest _Ostian spies. Leila's secret recipe. Observe." Matthew reared back his hand and threw a handful of flash powder into the stable. Soon, the bandits were coughing and blinking the strange substance out of their eyes.

"*Cough*what is this*cough* stuff?" One bandit hacked.

"No*hack* clue. *wheeze*." Another replied.

"Yes, now it won't wear off for a few minutes. Now I just have to hope Guy doesn't do something stupid." But Matthew had spoken too soon.

"YOU THERE, FIENDS!" Guy shouted, pointing his sword at them. "I dare you to hurt that damsel! For I am GUY! The FINEST swordsman in the land! And this day, I will defeat you!" Matthew buried his face in his hands before slinking away to warn Hector. Guy actually handled the fight rather well. For what he lacked in raw power, he made up with the fact that he was fast and rarely missed his strikes. Guy was thankful he could fight in the mess of flash powder, but had to rely on listening for where his opponents were instead of seeing them. He stopped slashing about for a moment and breathed.

"Florina! Where are you?" He shouted.

"I-I'm in the corner. Wh-who are you?"

"It's Guy! Don't worry Florina, I'm gonna get you outta here!" He hollered. He made his way to the wall and shimmied down it until Florina alerted him that he was right next to her. Now he opened his eyes just a little bit, not wanting the flash powder to get in and irritate them. He cut her free of her bonds. "Run! Run Florina! Get out of here!" Florina rubbed her eyes free of the flash powder and made a move for the door.

"Don't let her get out!" the bandit's apparent leader shouted. She could barely see where she was going or where the bandits were, so she was on the floor in a matter of moments.

"Well this makes the situation ENTIRELY better." Guy's voice became sarcastic as he sensed a group of the thugs surrounding him.

Matthew was sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him. He found Hector bringing a bucket of water back to camp.

"Hector! Bandits are in the camp! They got Florina, and Guy's trying to fight them off in the stables!"

"What?" Hector's voice was unbelieving.

"We've got to go help them! One of them has a swordreaver!" Matthew tugged on Hector's arm before jogging back to the stable.

"But Priscilla says my wound is still too tender!" Hector exclaimed.

"So? Just throw a vulnerary on it! I do that when I'm told I can't fight and I have to!" Matthew rolled his eyes, throwing him one. Hector gave a shrug and opened the vulnerary, but Matthew had already taken off again.

"Matthew! Hold up! Wait for me!" Hector huffed as he did his best to catch up with the rouge.

The Flash powder was now clearing up, and Guy was cussing at Matthew silently. For now he saw that the leader of the bandits had a swordreaver, and was closing in on him. Florina was being gripped by the arms, and she was terrified at what they might do to her now that she had nearly escaped. Guy put his sword in his mouth and climbed onto one of the support beams of the stable. As soon as a bandit came near, he leapt down and plunged his sword into them before they could destroy the beam.

"Priscilla will _never _forgive me if this stable is totaled!" He hissed at the dying bandit. Fiery vigor glittered in his eyes, daring the other bandits to come forward. A huge bandit suddenly stood behind Guy, the one with the swordreaver. Guy turned around and suddenly felt very small and weak. He didn't show it, but he knew at this point he was outmatched. Suddenly the bandit fell over and Matthew looked down at the corpse and then at the sword in his hand. He looked up at Guy and waved.

"Hi!" Guy pushed Matthew.

"You _knew _he had a swordreaver!" Guy roared.

"Well excuse me! I _did_ save you!" Matthew folded his arms.

"Forget about me! I can take care of myself!" Guy turned to face another bandit.

"Apparently not; you got mad at me for leaving you with someone who has a swordreaver."

"Shut up Matthew." Matthew blew a raspberry at Guy before turning to see another bandit. This one however had gotten close enough to put his axe to Matthew's throat. One slip and Matthew would be a goner. Suddenly the bandit fell to ground as a blue armoured lord landed on him, Wolf beil in his neck.

"Finally you caught up!" Matthew commented before getting into fighting stance.

"Hey gentlemen!" The head bandit called out. "Watch what you do; this lassie's little head will roll if you keep up killing my men!" The head bandit put an enormous axe to Florina's neck. Her face was red and her eyes were big and frightened. Hector's stance immediately became mawkish and soft. His axe lowered to the floor and his eyes were saucers that bore fear. The bandit leader was now in the upper hand. But . . . there was only the swordsman and that blue-haired lout with the axe . . . where did the thief go? A large "Bonk!" resounded as the bandit's arms went limp, allowing Florina to zip out from his grasp. She collapsed to the floor and whimpered as soon as she was away from the thug.

"Have you no honor? Using threats to manipulate is as lowly as it can come!" Matthew snarled. Hector now seized this opportunity to throw the bandit against the wall.

"Don't you DARE even think of hurting her, hear me?" Hector bellowed. "Did you hurt her?"

"The little lass is overreacting, I didn't lay a finger on her." The bandit growled.

"He's fibbing milord, unless you think this is red wine?" Matthew pointed at Florina's cheek, which had a few red drops rolling down it, amidst the hot red look of fear on her face as well. She had a few other nicks in various places. Hector's only emotion now was rage. He viciously finished the bandit off, allowing no retaliation or strikes back. Soon, all that was left was a mutilated corpse soaking in a puddle of blood. Hector's breath was heavy and his teeth gritted before he stood up and left the remains of the body. Florina shivered, she had never seen Hector so mad before. And now he was sitting down before her.

"Florina," He looked her in the eyes. "Florina, look at me. Are you alright?" His once furious face was now gentle and concerned. Florina felt her salty tears stinging the slice on her face.

"T-t-t-that w-was s-sc-scary." Florina's tears spilled down her face.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to frighten you." Hector's voice was calm now, and he let his fingertips touch her hand again. Florina sobbed loudly, her tears came with no end. Guy and Matthew looked around to make sure no more bandits were around. "It's okay, don't cry." Hector's voice was very tender, which was new for him. "I can't believe I scared her that badly." He sighed to Matthew.

"I already told you, you're a big brute with a loud mouth and an axe. I'd be scared of you too if I was Florina." Matthew turned to look at his lord with disbelief. Hector gave a huff and turned to the crying Pegasus knight.

"Florina," he looked her in the eye. "Did he hurt you anywhere else?" Florina nodded, her face tensed up.

"That b-bad man h-hurt me." She sniffled. She pointed at her side, which had a cut on it.

"Okay, it's okay; he did a stupid thing trying to hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you again." Hector took her little hand and held it.

"He was s-so scary! I d-d-don't like men! T-they're m-mean and scary!" Florina bawled.

"I know," Hector nodded. "I know." Florina pulled both hands in and buried her face into them. Hector let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "But," he lifted her head up for a moment. "They can be nice." Florina looked at him with puffy red eyes. Hector had just killed someone two minutes ago with no second thoughts or regrets, and now he was sitting on the floor with her and trying to stop her from crying. . .He took her hand again.

"L-lord Hector?"

"Hector, I'm just Hector." He whispered softly.

"H-Hector. . ." She faltered. "I-if you were m-m-mad at me, w-would you k-k-kill me?" more tears spilled down her face.

"Would I_ what?_" He sounded disbelieving. "Would I _kill _you? Florina, I couldn't hurt you if I wanted to!" He chuckled.

"B-but you're s-s-so. . ."

"Big and powerful?" He asked, tilting his head. She nodded. Hector gave a half-hearted smile. "Oh Florina," he took her other hand. "Are you scared of Huey?"

"W-what? No!" She shook her head. "I-I can't be scared of her! I- . . . I _love _her!"

"But Huey could trample you, or bite you, or buck you off."

"B-but she wouldn't do that!" Florina exclaimed. Suddenly it dawned on her.

"Huey can do a lot of damage, but she never hurt you because you took care of her. She could kill a person, but she can also love and protect someone." Hector explained. Florina only felt more tears coming on. She began to cry again, but this time she buried her face in Hector's lap. He rubbed her on the head and picked her up. "Let's get you to the quarantine tent missy." He held her tiny body in one arm, his wolf beil in the other and carried her out of the stables. Guy heard a rustling noise and turned to see Matthew searching the remains of the dead bandit leader.

"What the . . .? Matthew what are you _doing?_"

"OH MY GODS! IT'S AN IRON RUNE! DIBS! IT'S MINE!" Matthew shouted out. Guy rolled his eyes before leaving the stables, while Matthew continued to filch the carcasses of the bandits.

* * *

Yeah, I hope this chapter was a good one. I'm working on the next one, so don't worry your pretty little heads off.

Review if you liked it, or if you have any tips to give.  
(PLEASE do not critique me on how Guy and Matthew behave, I'm working on it. If you already alerted me of them being flipped, I'm not mad at you. But to others I did say I can't guarantee how in character Guy is.)

Ta~!


	7. Stable days

Ohoho! I am back with HecFlor!

Thanks to all of my loyal reviewers, you are a big help and help me remain constructive and creative!

I like this chapter, it was funzzles to write. And now we can see how I react to my stupid tactics! XDX I'm so brilliant. Lyn just goes along with it because sometimes I go a good job!

The next chapter I've already started on, and it's really, really awesome (I can't guarantee every male on the site would be thrilled at the though it, but I know the girls will want to get together with their friends after reading it. It's not inappropriate, just kind of a female past-time.)

Anyways, enjoy the chapter. And yes, I know I overuse fancy adjectives to describe hair and eyes. (Don't do this with your characters: just everyone else's XD)

So READ!

* * *

Though everyone was back at camp by now, talking about the incident, Lyn and Kit were the first two people back. Thus, they were the pair to be informed by Guy about the ambush. Kit did _not_ want to talk to anyone, as it had occurred to her as well that she had left two unarmed troupes back at camp. She went to her tent immediately and could be heard banging her head against her notebook. Lyn sighed and shook her head.

"She'll get over it; it's not the first time she's done this sort of thing." She turned to Guy. "Where's Matthew? Wasn't he with you?"

"He's running around in the stable in search of shiny objects the bandits might have been carrying."

"Ah." She looked off. How typical of the blonde thief. Suddenly it occurred to her that Hector and Florina had been at camp too.

"Where's Florina?"

"Oh . . . she's in the quarantine tent with Hector." Guy pointed. Lyn ran over as fast as she could.

"Florina!" She shouted out. Florina was getting her side bandaged by Hector.

"Yeah Lyn?"

"Oh no, are you alright?"

"Yeah. . ." Florina trailed off. Hector tied off the loose bandage and gave Florina a slap on the shoulder. Florina had a little patch of bandage on her cheek where she had been cut as well.

"Well this is a reverse situation." Hector chuckled. "I'm no cleric, but I think you'll be fine after a healing." He helped her up.

"Don't make her do any work too soon!" Lyn's motherly instinct took over.

"She's not going to do any work, but she's not bleeding and dying." Hector sighed. "Sometimes I think you're too protective of her."

"Well yeah! She's around _you_ all the time!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know she's scared to death of you! The least you could do is make it less hard on her and not prod your way into her privacy!"

"Maybe I should just _leave_ her, if you think she doesn't need me around."

"That's what I mean! You treat her the wrong way! When she needs protection you don't give it, and when she needs space you don't give her  
that either!"

"L-Lyn." Florina spoke up. Lyn's voice and temper cooled as she turned to the smaller girl.

"Yes Florina?"

". . . H-Hector was just taking me out to see the horses . . . I-I asked him to." The jade haired nomad's lips pursed and she shot a disdainful glare at Hector.

"Alright, I'll let you be. But if he does anything to hurt you Florina," Lyn locked eyes with Florina. "Tell me." She walked off, but the aura she emitted showed she was not trusting of Hector because of the results of the ambush. Hector looked down at Florina with a creased brow.

". . . You never said anything about seeing the horses."

"I- . . . I know . . . I-I'm sorry, I didn't w-want Lyn yelling at you. . ." She confessed.

"Oh. . ." Hector murmured. He bent down and looked her in the eye. Florina was his polar opposite in every way. She was a warrior, but in reality she was a peacemaker. She preferred to create, not destroy. Hector didn't speak to make peace, but to start fires. But now that he thought of it, that trait about Florina balanced him out.

"W-we don't have to go to the stables. I just used that to make Lyn leave." Florina looked up at him.

"Well do you want to go to see the horses?" Hector inquired. Florina gave a tiny nod. "Alright, then that's what we'll do." He smiled.

Florina was able to walk on her own, but Hector trailed closely behind her to make sure she had proper footing. She did stumble now and then; she had twisted her foot when she had tried to escape in the cloud of flash powder, but Hector gave her enough support so that she never did actually fall. They got to the stables, and Florina instantly felt at home. If wanting to fall asleep in the stables every night was wrong, Florina did not want to be right. The dead bandits were now cleared out, and the horses were back, but Florina still felt that the place was alienating without Huey in her proper stall. She made her way over to Sain's horse, which she had become fond of. He let out a whinny at the sight of her and reached his neck out to greet her. Florina gave him a pat on the nose and smiled.

"Do you want a lift so you can pat him on the head?" Hector asked, Florina turned around and gave a slow nod. Hector hoisted her up effortlessly and held her firmly. She reached out a hand to the stallion and stroked his mane.

"T-Thank you. . ." She mumbled, as Hector put her down.

"Not a problem." He smiled. Florina let out a sigh, looking off to the right.

"Is something wrong?" Hector bent down a bit. Florina was generally reserved, but she seemed to be warming up to him enough to tolerate him, so why did she seem sad?

"Oh . . . I just miss Huey." She admitted. Hector slowly placed his hand on her shoulder and sighed.

"I understand. Sure I may not have liked that horse myself, but I get why you're worried."

"She's special to me. . ." Florina murmured.

"Yeah. . ." Hector nodded. He took his hand off her shoulder now; what Lyn said lingered in his mind and he did want to give Florina her space.

"Don't worry, we'll find her soon."

"You think?" Florina looked up at him, hopeful.

"Sure, if she wants to put up a fight, I'll _make_ her come back. She's missing out on time she could be spending with you." Hector smiled.

"Yeah?" Florina was now smiling a bit herself.

"Yeah." Hector replied.

". . . T-thank you Hector." She blushed.

"You're welcome." He chuckled. "Do you want to stay here or what?" Hector asked.

"Uh . . . c-could we stay . . .? . . . J-just a bit longer?"

"I think that sounds fine." He nodded. He leaned against a support pole and looked down at the sky-riding cavalier before him.

"S-so H-Hector." Her eyes trailed off to the side. "W-what about you? W-what was your life like?"

"My life?" he asked.

"Y-you already know about me. . ."

"Psh, only a bit; You are so quiet." He shrugged.

"Oh. . ." Florina murmured.

"Not that that's a bad thing; it's just hard to get to know you without making you uncomfortable." Hector immediately took what he said back.

"I see. . ." Florina murmured. "S-so d-do you want to know a little about m-me . . .?" Florina felt very uncomfortable, and she probably would have died of fright if she hadn't spent so much time around the reckless axe-wielding lord.

"Sure." He bent one knee out inertly.

"Uh. . ." Florina thought for a moment. "W-well. . .m-my mom and dad died when I was very little." Hector's eyes suddenly went very soft. She didn't know why; practically everyone in their army had to have lost someone precious to them, to death or just being parted. Why should her loss be special?

"No kidding?" He made his way closer to her. ". . .I lost my parents when I was a kid too." Florina was a little shocked.

"Y-you did?" She tilted her head a bit. "B-but you never. . .y-you know. . .act like you did."

"Well that's where the difference of scenario comes in; you're lucky because you've got everyone around supporting you." Florina looked up at him. "I'm a guy, I'm supposed to take care of myself. Once I was old enough to fend for myself, I was expected my most everyone to do so. I can't be weak, I _have_ to be strong." He blinked down at her with big, cornflower eyes.

". . . I-I'm sorry . . ." Florina turned away, her chest hurt, but she didn't think she was going to cry.

"Sorry? For what?"

"Y-you probably go through much more than I do . . . a-and no one cares . . ." She hugged herself. How could she be so uncaring? So ignorant? So. . ._selfish?_

"Hey, don't be sorry." He leaned against the stall door. "It's just how it is; I'm able to do it. Besides, I've got friends who go through the same thing and lose it." Hector folded his arms and continued to lean against the stall door.

"Lose it?" Florina asked, getting a little confused.

"Remember when lord Elbert died?" Florina nodded, how could she ever forget_ that_? Poor Eliwood was in tears, clutching his father's dead body. In fact if Florina didn't know any better, Eliwood probably would have killed himself, had his friends not been there to keep him in his right mind.

"Eliwood kind of snapped there. He's always been a bit on the sensitive side for a man . . . Is that why you're scared of men?"

"H-huh?"

"Are you afraid of me because I'm not as sensitive as Eliwood?"

"Uh. . .I-I'm scared of most men. . .y-y-you know that." Florina didn't want to offend Hector or hurt his feelings. Hector wasn't fazed.

"Florina, contrary to what most of the people you meet tell you, I'm not an idiot. It's obvious you're scared of me." Hector let out a groan.

"I-. . .I. . ." Florina bit her lip and looked off to the side once more."

"But that's not of concern. I'm just curious; do you like Eliwood because he's more sympathetic?"

"Um . . . I-I'm not sure actually . . . it . . . it never really crossed my mind."

"Well I guess that's food for thought." Hector shrugged. Florina remained silent, but looked up at Hector, hinting that he should pick up the conversation. "Anyways," he got the hint. "They were important to me, but my real father-figure was my brother."

"Do you miss him?"

". . . Yeah, I do. But he wouldn't want me to be sad over his death. He kept it a secret from me so I wouldn't be torn. He kept showing he loved me up until he was gone."

"He was good to you, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, sure he was overprotective sometimes, or too critical . . . but that's how guardians are supposed to be." He mumbled thoughtfully. "How did your sisters treat you Florina? Were they like your parents?"

"Well. . ." Florina thought for a moment. "Fiora took on the motherly role in my life. Farina remained like a sister; she isn't the kind of person to be nurturing, but she cares about me."

"So you had no father-figure at all?"

"No." Hector furrowed his brow. For him it wasn't such a big deal, as his mother hadn't actually died when he was a child; she died when he was a little older, giving enough input into her son's life so that he knew how to feel about women. Hector would naturally grow up to be fearless, masculine, and strong anyways. But Florina's case was different; if a girl grew up without any sort of father-figure, she would be unsure of how to react to men until she had formed a stereotype. In Florina's case, she was terrified of men.

"That's too bad." Hector finally spoke again.

"It's okay." Florina looked up at him with aquamarine eyes.

"No, it's not." Hector looked her in the eye. Florina suddenly felt submissive. "It's not okay." Hector moved closer to her. She was beginning to feel shaky, if he wanted something a certain way, by all means she'd make it so; she was scared of him after all. Hector bent down and met her with an oddly concerned gaze in his blue eyes. "That's left a scar on you. Because you never had a father in your life, you're scared of men. Look at yourself! You're shivering just by looking at me!" Florina looked down to find she had Goosebumps on what parts of her arm were visible. She let out a sigh and rubbed her shoulder.

"I-I know." She stuttered. "I-I'm sorry. . ."

"Aw geez Florina, don't be sorry for everything you do." He gave her a quick pat on the head. "I just feel bad that you're scared of men because you never really got to know any." He leaned back even further on the stall door, causing it to swing open, and send Hector crashing to the ground. Florina held in a giggle; something was funny about seeing him dazed on the floor.  
"My vital organs. . ." His voice was quiet. Florina accidentally let the giggle escape. Hector looked up and her before chuckling himself. "Just goes to show how clumsy I am." He sat up and brushed some hay out of his dark blue hair. Florina climbed over the stall and curled up in a pile of soft straw. It was Huey's stall, so it was empty, but Florina had still mucked it out and kept fresh bedding in it in case Huey decided to return. Unlike most girls, Florina's favorite scent had to be fresh hay and straw. It wasn't overly flowery, but it did have a sweet fragrance. She inhaled deeply before looking over at Hector. He turned around and sat cross-legged in front of her.

"You like how it smells, huh?" he smiled a bit.

"Yes," Florina gave a small smile back, the scent comforted her. "It's so fresh and sweet." Hector gave a bigger smile and inched closer to her. He lay back so his head was pillowed by the bedding.

"I guess it is." He looked up at her. Florina was unsure of what to do. She knew if it was Eliwood in this position, he'd start piling up hay on Hector's face. If it was Lyn, she'd wait until Hector closed his eyes before doing something like dowsing him in water, just to get back at him for letting Florina get hurt. Hector seemed to know what to do next, because he took her tiny hand in his own huge gloved one and just held it for a moment.

"Uh . . .?" Florina trailed off.

"Sorry," Hector let go of her hand. "Forgot I shouldn't do that."

"N-no! . . . I-it's okay." Florina hoped that was the right thing to say.

"Alright, but only if you're okay with it." Hector took her hand again. He ran his huge thumb over her palm and gave it a gentle squeeze. Florina shifted; her twisted ankle was beginning to feel better, but now it was starting to fall asleep. Hector looked up at her, a big grin still on his face. She smiled back at him a bit. Hector let out a deep sigh of contentment and gave Florina's hand another squeeze.

"S-so. . ." Florina finally spoke up. "C-can you ride a horse?" She couldn't think of much else to strike up a conversation. Now it was Hector's turn to look off to the side awkwardly.

"Uh. . ." He scratched his head. "N-no. No I cannot."

"Oh." Florina didn't really mind; many people in the army couldn't ride a horse. A funny memory that lingered in her mind was when Serra got the idea to borrow Priscilla's horse one particular battle. She was screaming so loud and looked so silly, even _Erk_ was laughing at her.

"Yeah, I can't ride a horse. I'm good at walking though." He chuckled. Florina gave a nod and leaned up against the stable wall. They continued to talk until Hector had somehow managed to drift off. Florina was braiding pieces of straw and tying them together to pass time, until she noticed Hector was asleep. He was drooling a bit, but he wasn't snoring (not loudly anyways). Florina suppressed a giggle as she look at him; she thought about what kinds of mean little pranks Lyn would pull on him while he was in that deep a sleep.

"Florina! Florina!" A voice suddenly beckoned for her. She stood up and looked to find it was Nils.

"Y-yes Nils?" She asked softly.

"Dinner's ready Florina." He called out.

"O-okay! Be there in a minute!" She shouted back. Nils left as quickly as he had arrived, and Florina turned to Hector once more. "H-Hector, wake up." she tapped his shoulder. His eyes slowly opened and he sat up and stretched.

"Hey." He mumbled as he wiped his mouth.

"D-dinner's ready. We should go. . ."

"Oh sure thing, no problem." He got up and brushed the many pieces of straw from his armour. "You can walk by yourself right?"

"Yep." Florina nodded and stretched her legs.

"Alright then." he left the stall and lingered, waiting for Florina. Florina walked a bit further behind him, still savoring her space from him. But . . . was she really completely afraid of him? She had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach and even weirder in her chest, and it certainly wasn't her wound. . .

* * *

As always, tips are appreciated, as is praise and advice. I'm new to writing multi-chapter romance, and we're just getting into the fluff, so please go easy on me!


	8. Sleepover!

Well here's the next chapter! And like I said, it's kind of a girl thing. XD

Come on guys! Fire emblem girls need a break too!

I SLAVED OVER THIS CHAPTER, SO DON'T WHINE ABOUT EVERY LITTLE THING!

I know you guys wouldn't do that though, you're nice!

STUPID CHAPTER TEXT IS BEING STUPID. DX

Forgive the lack of the chapter heading; it is being a lout. XD

Enjoy! **  


* * *

**

Florina sat down next to Lyn with her bowl of stew. She was happy to see Hector sitting down next to Eliwood, and needed a little time with her experienced female companion.

"Lyn. . ." She asked.

"Yes Florina?" Her voice was gentle, and her eyes danced as she saw Florina.

"Can we talk alone after we eat?" Florina asked hopefully. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hector play-punching Eliwood before tucking into his meal.

"Of course." Lyn smiled at her warmly. Florina should have been happy; she was healthy, Hector wasn't even within a ten-foot radius of her, and she was with her best friend. However she had a question pounding in the back of her head, and only Lyn could answer it. She had quickly finished her stew, and waited patiently for Lyn to finish hers. After doing so, both returned their bowls and stood just outside of the camp, by a young tree. Huey had loved that spot, as the grazing was particularly good there, not to mention how shady it was.

"So Florina, what's on your mind?" Lyn leaned against the tree and folded her arms.

"Lyn," she started off. "Would Hector hurt me?"

"No you silly thing, he'd never hurt you! Why do you keep asking everyone this?" Lyn laughed.

". . . Why did you yell at him? You said yourself that he's not stupid or heartless enough to hurt me." The smile on Lyn's face faded. She was shocked that Florina would ask that, and to her best friend.

"I . . . h-he . . ." She rubbed the back of her head. She bit her knuckle and looked away from Florina. "I was worried. I shouldn't have been, but I was." She finally spoke after a few minutes.

"Why?" Florina prodded.

"Florina, you're the sister I never had. Hector. . ." she sighed. "Oh that big lout! He could hurt you if he wanted to! Normally I can tolerate him, but not if you get hurt! Oh Florina! He's so reckless! That lout! That loutish lord Hector!"

"H-he's. . ." Florina covered her mouth, regretting saying anything at all.

"He's what?" Lyn turned to her.

"N-nothing." Florina shook her head. Lyn gave a shrug and held Florina's hand. "I think you've been spending an awful lot of time with him. Maybe you just need to relax and spend time with your friends. Must I remind you what we're doing tonight after your healing?" Lyn smiled brightly. Florina realized what Lyn meant and her heart skipped. Lyn, Ninian, Nino, and she were all having something along the lines of a slumber party that night. They had done similar events in the past, and Lyn had never seen Florina having so much fun. "Now after you see Serra, you are going to go get your things and meet back at my tent." Lyn winked. Florina nodded to Lyn and left beaming.

Soon, all four girls were giggling and chattering in Lyn's tent. It was just like a sleepover with any set of girls. Nino was very absorbed in trying to read her book, but she knew she probably wouldn't be able to focus on it during the sleepover anyways (not that Nino could read it all that well either). Florina braided Ninian's long, sea foam green hair. Lyn got back from taking a bath in a small spring than ran nearby the camp.

"Florina, would you please braid my hair too?" She asked, rubbing it dry with a towel.

"Sure." She nodded, finishing up Ninian's braid. "And you're good to go Ninian." Ninian felt the braid and smiled.

"Wow Florina, that was fast, and it came out really good."

"Thanks, I got a lot of practice on Huey's mane and tail." She blushed a bit. She pulled Lyn's hair back and began to braid it.

"Do you guys think I should grow my hair out too?" Nino piped up, running a hand through her short, lime-colored locks.

"Nah, I like how your hair looks Nino." Florina smiled over.

"Thank you." Nino's eyes twinkled at the compliment she had just received.

"You're welcome." Florina's eyes sparkled back. She tied off Lyn's braid and held up her thumb. Lyn stretched out and looked up at the young mage.

"What are you reading Nino?"

"Uh . . . not sure." Nino giggled for a moment. "Could you help me Lyn?"

"Sure." Lyn sat up and looked at the spell book. As Lyn explained to Nino what the words meant, Ninian offered to braid Florina's hair.

"If you'd like." The Pegasus knight smiled, taking her hair out of the curious little ponytails that dangled on either side of her head.

"I'm not as good at braiding as you are, so I'm sorry if it comes out bad."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Florina encouraged. Ninian did a pretty good job on Florina's hair, and Florina personally liked how it looked. Nino bookmarked her spell book and giggled a bit to Lyn. "Thanks for helping Lyn, Erk really needs to teach me letters before he loans me his tomes."

"Not a problem." Lyn stretched once more and crossed her legs. She reached out and grabbed a fritter from one of the plates they had put in the middle of the tent. "So ladies, what do you want to do?"

"Well, we could give each other a makeover or something." Nino shrugged.

"Hey! How about we play truth or dare?" Lyn asked.

"Yeah!" Nino clapped her hands. "Who wants to be asked first?"

"I guess I will." Lyn gave a shrug and turned to Nino.

"Truth or Dare?"

"I pick . . . truth!"

"What is the longest you've gone without bathing?" a look of embarrassment spread across Lyn's face. Florina felt a smile creep on her lips. Ninian was holding in a laugh.

"Uh . . . long?" Lyn's face was turning bright red.

"_How _long?" Nino raised a brow. Lyn bent over and whispered into Nino's ear. The mage's jaw dropped and she gawked a moment.

"Oh my gods! Are you serious?" She laughed.

"How long?" Ninian asked.

"Four days!" Nino exclaimed. Florina and Ninian burst out in laughter.

"Ew! Gross!" Ninian sputtered.

"That's nasty!" Florina tittered.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad!" Lyn chuckled herself. "It could be a week." She pointed out.

"Oh that's disgusting!" they barreled on the floor laughing.

"Alright we get it, it's pretty gross. But it's not like I wanted to go that long without a bath!" Lyn tried to defend herself. "But now," they quieted.

"It's _my _turn." She smiled evilly at Ninian. "Ninian; truth or dare?"

"I pick the dare." Ninian replied casually.

"I dare you to go kiss Hyperion. _On the lips." _Lyn's green eyes flickered with happiness at her victim's misery. In no time, Ninian was sneaking to Heath's tent and looking around for the huge green dragon. Nino, Lyn, and Florina peered out at her as she approached the beast. She appeared to be talking with him, but didn't look over at the tent. He let out a blunt snort of humor, but stopped as soon as Ninian began to tap her foot. He bent down and lowered his head to her face. She slowly brought her lips to meet his fleshy, fang-hiding ones. The girls back in the tent were overcome with hysterics. Ninian came back, and looked quite agitated.

"Just because he's a dragon, you choose _that_ dare?" She hissed.

"I'm . . . ha . . . sorry Ninian . . . Ha ha, but that was most certainly called for. . ." Lyn breathed, sitting up. Ninian was still not impressed. "Don't  
worry, no one saw you." Lyn regained her composure.

"Good." Ninian let out a breath of relief and sat down. She couldn't stay mad at her friends for that long, and as long as no one else knew it would be fine. . .

Time passed and they went from truth or dare and eventually wound up sitting on the floor, talking about boys.

"So Nino," Ninian kicked her feet while nibbling on a fritter. "Who do you like?"

"Well. . ." Nino blushed a bit. "H-he's rough on the outside, but he's really, _really_ sweet." She giggled a bit, thinking of her crush.

"Is it Erk?" Ninian asked.

"No, it's not Erk." She twiddled her fingers a bit, sighing.

"It's Jaffar! The way you look at him, you'd think he was an angel!" Lyn exclaimed.

"Yeah. . ." Nino blushed "He's so sweet. . ."

"I'll bet he is." Lyn smiled at the mage. "So who do you like Ninian?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ninian chuckled. "Lord Eliwood!"

"Yes, he is very easy on the eyes. That red hair and big blue eyes of his." Lyn nodded.

"And _such _a gentleman." Ninian seemed lost in her own little world, sighing dreamily about Eliwood. "But what about you Lyn? Who do you like?"

"No, I'm not telling." Lyn shook her head.

"Is it Rath?"

"Nope."

"Give us a hint!" Nino begged.

"Never."

"Is it Kent?" Florina asked. Lyn's eyes shot opened and she bit her lip. Florina knew Lyn well enough to tell that she had a crush on the red-clad knight.

"How did-? But- . . . Oh never mind!" Lyn huffed. "Yes, I like Kent . . . but only a bit!" she emphasized her last part. Florina wasn't asked who she  
liked; everyone knew she wasn't in love, and had no intentions of being so. Florina was glad about this because it kept unwanted pressure off of her. But as they spoke of men, that odd feeling in her stomach and chest, and now her head was feeling light too. She kept quiet though, not wanting to worry anyone unless it became a real problem. The rest of the night went extremely well; they had a pillow fight and eventually flopped into their sleeping bags.

"Night ladies." Lyn blew out the lantern. Florina nuzzled into her pillow, happy to have peaceful dreams.

* * *

FUN!

Please review if you like this story, or have any tips to offer. Praise is appreciated, but be honest.

Ta!~


	9. Back talk

*Breath* NUUU! WHY?  
I am such an IDIOT!

I wasn't thinking when I was play fire emblem and I accidentally deleted my file!  
*conk* STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!

Oh well, I guess good can rise out of this!  
Now I can actually level up weaker troupes, and not kill Rebbecca in the first turn, and not accidentally PWN Guy with Marcus before recruiting him, and make Eliwood not die whenever a level 2 bandit closes in on him, and kill Raven because I hate him and I only need one swordsman anyways, and defeat Erik with someone other than Oswin, and make Erk strong for when I'm being overrun by evil Monks, and not leave Lucius with a Lightning spell book that has only 5 uses left before we get attacked by a million shamans, or leaving Priscilla with a mend that has 8 uses more while no one has any vulneraries left, and get A support between Hector and Florina (I didn't even get C support in my old file, and we were already at the dragon's gate XD), and kill Uhai without also killing Dart, and use HECTOR or OSWIN as a bulwark against enemy knights and not MATTHEW or LYN. XD

The possibilities are ENDLESS!

So accidentally deleting an old file isn't always a BAD thing!

Always look on the bright side!

Anyways, aside from deleting my old file on accident. . .  
Y'know how I said my sister had a cold and I have to take care of her?  
Well. . .  
I kinda caught it. XD  
I barely got any sleep last night and my throat kills, I can't talk very much or very loud (and let's just say I'm like Serra when it comes to me needing to talk XD)

But enough about me! Now is the time to read!  
Don't hurt, me, I personally think this chapter sucks, but maybe that's just being self-conscious.

Maybe you'll like it. Next chapter will be fluffier for sure.

* * *

Florina woke up next morning feeling refreshed. She no longer had that odd feeling in her stomach, chest, or head. She got ready for the day, thanked her friends for the sleepover, and went down to the stables to care for the horses. As she was feeding Sain's horse, a large gloved hand came over her eyes. She squeaked, but covered her mouth quickly.

"Guess who?" a familiar voice asked. She let out a breath, and the woozy feeling came back.

"Oh," She turned around and breathed. "I-it's you Hector." She looked up at the blue haired lord.

"How are you today Florina?" He seemed in an oddly good mood for someone who hated mornings.

"I'm good . . . h-how about you?" She asked as she mixed a bucket filled with chaff, trying not to look at him.

"I'm okay." He leaned back, stretching. "Do you need any help around the stable?"

"N-no, I t-think everything's under control." She scooped some chaff into the trough of Sain's horse."

"Oh. . ." Hector seemed almost disappointed that she didn't need help. "Well . . . i-if you need me, just call me over, okay?" He rubbed the back of his head.

"Okay." Florina nodded and gave a small smile. He returned the nod and left. He left the stable and sat down by the fire pit, rather frustrated.

"What was I thinking? She doesn't want me around to begin with! If she wanted help she'd go get someone else." Hector wanted to punch himself. How was he going to convince this girl he was a safe person to be around if she was still a little afraid of him?

"Hey buddy, how's it going?" He turned around to see Eliwood.

"Hi Eliwood." He stood up and greeted his friend with a pound hug. "I'm okay, I guess."

"You guess?" Eliwood looked up at Hector. Hector didn't want to tell anyone that he was having trouble getting to know Florina. There were some people that would go crazy if they found out he liked her. But Eliwood was his friend, and he felt that he could trust him.

"Hey, can we talk about this somewhere else?" Hector whispered. Eliwood raised a brow, but nodded. They went to the privacy of their tent, where they would not be disturbed. Once there, Hector scratched the back of his head.

"Listen . . . I . . . kinda have a crush on a girl." He confessed.

"Who?" Hector went red.

"No one." He spoke through his teeth. Eliwood was neither fazed nor impressed.

"Hector, I've known you for ten years and you can't man up enough to tell me the name of the girl you have a crush on?"

"I wouldn't be talking, pansy-boy!"

"Just because I'm not an over-sized behemoth like you doesn't mean I'm a pansy!"

"I'm not _that_ big!"

"Your words mean nothing, fool!"

"Florina!" Hector shouted out, not being able to handle it anymore.

". . . What?" Eliwood cocked his head.

"I'm in love with her. . ." Hector scuffed his boot against the ground. "A-and I know . . . she doesn't love me back . . . if anything she hates me." He collapsed on his bed with a loud 'thunk'.

"Hey, it's okay." Eliwood sat down next to his friend. "She's shy to everyone."

"Not _you_." Hector rested his chin on his knees. "She's not scared of you at all."

"_That _is for a couple of reasons." Eliwood locked eyes with Hector. "First of all, I'm on Lyn's good side. Secondly, I already met Florina a year before you did, she knows me better. I'm also close with Ninian, whom Florina is good friends with. I've grown up around women, so I know how to treat those with specific personality quirks. Not to mention I'm _gentle_ with her." His icy blue eyes stared down Hector.

"I'm _trying_ to be gentler." Hector sighed. "I'm trying but I'm not good enough." He murmured miserably. "I'm a failure."

"No you're not." Eliwood rolled his eyes. "You're just not used to this. You need training."

"You are _not _putting me through 'romance-boot camp'." Hector snorted.

"Not that kind of training." Eliwood chuckled. "I mean advice and tips. C'mon, you're my friend; it's my job to help you out every now and then."

"Okay, I guess it's worth a shot." Hector sighed.

"Good. Now just out of curiosity, what's your approach?"

"I'm just generally patient and nice. I never lose my temper with her, but I don't think it's paying off. . ."

"That's a pretty good approach," Eliwood nodded. "But let me remind you, Florina is always on guard because she thinks you will lose your temper. Do you lose your temper _around_ her at all?"

"Uh . . ." The blue-haired lord trailed off. "Once . . . maybe twice."

"What did you do?" Eliwood noted the awkward look on his friend's face.

"I . . . kinda killed this guy in front of her." Hector poked his fingers together timidly.

"Hector!" Eliwood groaned. "You can't just _do_ that!"

"He was a bandit! He hurt her!"

"Well no wonder she's still skittish around you!"

"She knows I wouldn't lay a finger on her!"

"She may know that, she may. But think of it from an outside perspective; would anyone believe that you were patient with her if they saw you in that moment?"

". . . No . . ." Hector sighed.

"My point made." Eliwood's eyes were introspective. "You're not a bad person; you're hot-headed and sometimes brash, but you're not bad. It looks like all you need to do is keep it up, actually." His lips pulled into a smile. "And if she still doesn't want anything to do with you, it's her loss." Eliwood feinted a punch to Hector's shoulder.

"So what about giving her some space? How should I go about that?" Hector cocked his head.

"I say give her as much privacy as you like, plus a third more." Eliwood smiled. "She's not anti-social, just a little shy. She'll be around men, just not all the time if she can help it. Eventually she'll have to take notice and probably will go out of her way to find you if she's interested." Eliwood winked. Hector was thankful to have Eliwood; he was always there to give him good advice (Besides, Eliwood helped out when Hector asked for help, unlike a certain _knight _Hector was given unwanted advice from. He suddenly realized that Kit did have a useful feature after all: she kept Oswin busy all the time) Hector felt a churning sensation in his stomach. He however, knew what the feeling was, unlike Florina. He accepted it and would always welcome it. Though he didn't know if the Pegasus knight felt the same way, she certainly couldn't have known what it meant.

Hector left the tent to bump into Matthew on the way out. The sandy haired rogue fell over upon bumping onto the bulky lord.

"Oops, I'm sorry Matthew, I didn't see you" Hector offered Matthew a hand.

"All's well, nothing's broken." Matthew took it and brushed himself off.

"Say Matthew. . ." Hector thought for a moment. "Would you be willing to do me a favor?"

"How risky is it on a scale of 1 to 10?"

"Two, one even." Hector sighed.

"What did you want?" Matthew inquired. Hector whispered into his ear the favor, not wanting anyone else to hear of it.

"How much would that cost?" Hector asked, a little fearful of the price of the task.

"For you, I'll do it for three thousand gold."

"Well that's better than your normal price." Hector sighed. "Alright, I'll pay you after you do It."

"Score." Matthew pumped his fist in victory. "I'll get around to it soon, but I have important troubles to attend to."

"What kinds of troubles?"

"Mattie! Mattie Mattie!" Serra's voice rang out. "I got a shiny new staff that I'd like to test out on my favorite little thief!" her voice was extremely chirpy and joyful.

"Serra troubles." Matthew answered before dashing away.

"Get back here Mattie! Don't you want to see how _amazing _my staff is?" She shouted out, running after Matthew. Hector suppressed a laugh, not wanting the bouncy cleric to take notice and use that whacky magical stick on _him_ instead.

In the meantime, Hector could help out around camp. He still had one day until he could fight without fear of getting injured again, but it seemed likely that Kit would make him protect Florina until Huey's return. He was surprised that neither Priscilla nor Serra were mad at him for fighting bandits. They seemed much more annoyed at the tactician for putting him in danger than at him for fighting. Kit was the target of many after-battle feuds, and thus, she often reported straight to her tent to avoid being confronted. What might have helped was the fact that Hector was the one who took care of Florina's wounds, and out of free will. Serra and Priscilla obviously cared about Florina, and were probably pleased that he would care for her when they weren't around. At least he was on their good side; he wouldn't want to be on Serra's bad side. (If her good side was that annoying, he couldn't imagine how horrible she was when she was really mad) Hector shook his head free of thoughts; it was beginning to hurt. He decided he'd put himself to good use and see if there was anything he could do around camp, maybe take his mind off of Florina for a while.

Florina meanwhile, was finishing up her own work in the stables. She slipped out and tip-toed off to get a little alone time. She sat down in a sunny patch of grass and sighed. How peaceful it was. But . . . something didn't feel right. She felt lonely . . . well of course she did, she missed Huey! . . . Whatever; it wasn't of importance, she normally felt a little lonely when she wanted some alone time. That _was_ the point of the word "lone" after all. Huey would return soon, Huey couldn't stand to be away from Florina for _that _long, even if she wanted Florina to learn something. But still . . . Florina felt a little empty.

"Maybe I just need human companionship." She said to herself. "I could go ask Nino to play a game with me . . ." No, she didn't miss Nino. She couldn't have missed any of her friends at the sleepover last night; she had seen them all just this morning. Maybe she should just head back to camp, she'd have to feel crowded, and the loneliness was actually starting bothering her.  
She made her way back to camp, to see Lyn shouting at Hector. The look on Hector's face showed he couldn't care less about what Lyn was saying.

"Can't you do anything right?" Lyn screamed up at him, not exactly caring that she only came up to his stomach. If it were Florina, she would have backed down; she barely reached Hector's hips.

"Oh my gods! What did I mess up today Lyn?" Hector spoke with fake enthusiasm in his voice.

"You can't just _lose_ her! She could really get hurt!"

"She's not lost!" Hector caught sight of Florina. "Look! She's right here! I'm not her watchdog; she can go off on her own if she wants." Florina suddenly felt the emptiness leave.

"Well while Huey's gone, she's defenseless and that means _you_ have to watch her!"

"If I watch her, I'll do it because I _want_ to. Not because her mommy told me to."

"Oh! L-Lyn!" Florina piped up. "J-just the person I wanted to see!" she knew Lyn would probably try and attack Hector if she let their fight continue. "I was w-wondering if we could talk."

"Oh of course Florina! Let's go." Lyn took Florina by the arm and lead her away from Hector.

"Are you feeling alright Florina?"

"I'm okay . . . I think." Florina murmured.

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Um . . . Did Hector do something bad?"

"He's was supposed to be watching you, or at least aware of where you were." Lyn huffed. "If you had been attacked, you could have been killed! He should at least know of your whereabouts while you are unable to fight!"

"I-it's okay Lyn-" Florina started.

"That stark, brutish, heartless lout could've gotten you hurt or dead! How can it be okay?" Lyn exclaimed.

"He . . ." Florina covered her mouth again.

"What about him? You did this last night too!"

"He's . . . He's not a lout." It took Florina all her courage to say that. Lyn looked at her shell-shocked.

"_Not a lout?_" Lyn echoed to herself

"He's . . . a-a little rough . . . and s-scary . . . b-but he's not a lout." Florina shivered.

"Florina?" Lyn asked.

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean that!" Florina stuttered.

"No, it's okay." Lyn held Florina's hands. "I'm not mad at you, you didn't do anything wrong Florina." Lyn chuckled. Hadn't _Hector_ said that to Florina once?

"Y-you're not?"

"No," Lyn's voice was gentle. "Just because I don't exactly like him doesn't mean you don't get a say. If you don't want me to call him that, I won't." Lyn smiled at the smaller girl. "I just worry about you Florina. He might have good intentions, but he's reckless, and stubborn, and refuses to listen to reason sometimes. If you were to ever get hurt by being around him . . . oh I don't even want to think about such an awful thing!" Lyn heaved a sigh.

"Lyn, I understand that you're worried." Florina spoke up, her boots were pointed inward. "Friends are supposed to care about each other. But you said yourself that Hector would never hurt me. Why would you start doubting your own words?" Lyn looked at the Pegasus knight helplessly. "Is this because I got hurt during that ambush?" Lyn didn't respond, but looked at Florina with sad eyes. "Lyn! Hector didn't do that! He was doing work around camp like he was told! That mean bandit hurt me! I was s-so scared. . ." Florina quaked. "Hector c-came and he got so m-mad at that bandit, he chopped him up into tiny pieces . . . H-he was scary then . . ." Florina felt tears in her eyes. Lyn listened thoughtfully. "He was so a-angry, I never saw him s-so mad . . ." She hugged herself, Lyn wrapped an arm around her as well. "B-but then he came and sat down o-on the floor with m-me . . . he asked me i-if I was h-hurt . . ." Lyn rubbed at Florina's shoulder gently. "I st-started crying, because he s-scared me . . . h-he told me he'd n-never let someone hurt me again." Lyn nodded in understanding.

"Even him?" Lyn finally spoke up. Florina looked off to the side.

"H-he didn't say. . ." Florina rubbed at her eyes. "B-but please don't call him a l-lout."

"I understand." Lyn whispered softly. "I know you're not a little girl, and that he's not as bad as I've got him in my mind to be, but I just worry about you."

"Okay." Florina murmured.

"You just stay safe, got it?"

"Yes Lyn." She nodded. She didn't know why she had defended him just there . . . wasn't she supposed to be afraid of him?

* * *

I hope you like it better than I do!

As always, be nice but honest when it comes to reviews. I like praise, but I can't learn solely from success.  
If you've got tips, advice, or anything to offer, I'd love to hear from you!

I'm friendly, I PROMISE I won't hurt you!

Ta~


	10. Clouds roll by

Well stuff has happened in the past few days!

Actually playing Fire emblem is LOADS of fun, and I finally recruited Guy!

All I gotta say is. . .  
You're on the list buddy.

"What list" you say?

The list of characters that I DESTROYPEOPLE WITH. (Next to Hector, Oswin, Lucius, and Marcus)  
I LOVE that critical rate!  
LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

Bah, so far I'm up to "False Friends", which is pretty good progress considering how often I actually play XD  
(I would be further, but I am NOT talking to Eliwood and Hector; they've been bad boys and keep dying by stupid causes. Hector. HECTOR!)

But no matter! This is a fluffball chapter, riddled with happy sunny meadows and killer lords behaving like little children! (NO! SPOILERS!)  
Next chapter will probably be less Florina-centric. And I've noticed with certain situations (Like Florina's sleepover) I prefer to have the viewpoint be a little more omnipresent, or whatever. But most of the time I'll focus just on Hector or just on Florina.

Happy reading!

* * *

Florina was very confused. Sometimes she'd feel lonely, sometimes she'd feel perfectly normal, and other times she'd feel all fuzzy and strange. She decided to sort out what she knew.  
She'd feel weird if she was in close proximity to Hector, but it had to be very close. If she was just talking to him or standing near him, she wouldn't notice thing. But if he did something like pat her on the head, she'd feel it. What was odd was that it wasn't a bad sensation; it was unfamiliar and foreign, but it didn't have any negative feel to it.  
She felt normal when with her friends or closer comrades . . . that was really the only time though. When she was working, her mind wandered. Though Florina was a very introspective girl, she was almost always able to keep her mind on the task she was performing. But now whenever she was working, she felt rather lonesome. She didn't understand that at all, because not a day ago she wanted all the privacy she could get.  
And speaking of which . . . Florina's mind was wandering again. Kent was giving his horse a bath, so she was supposed to be mucking out the stall. She shook her head free of thoughts and got to work. She tried to concentrate, but she felt as if she did the job half-hearted. She eventually finished up, but found herself staring at the ground for a whole ten minutes. In that time Kent had already put his horse back and left, and yet Florina hadn't even noticed.

"Florina? Florina? Hello?"

"Hm . . ." Florina mumbled.

"Hector to Florina! Do you read me?" She felt a gentle rap on her head. She looked up to see Hector smiling at her.

"Oh!" She jumped. "H-hello Hector." Her loneliness melted away, but now the weird feeling was back.

"Good! You're back in Elibe! We missed you!" He chuckled.

"Uh . . .?" Florina wasn't quite sure what he meant.

"Never mind, I'm just messing with that little head of yours." He brushed it off. "So what are you up to? Anything interesting happened since I last saw you?" He leaned on the stall door, but eyed the hinge carefully.

"N-not that comes to mind . . ." She mumbled. "Oh! I'm s-sorry Lyn was yelling at you earlier." She sighed. "S-she really doesn't mean any harm, I promise."

"Aw don't worry about me; I'm made of rugged stuff!" he banged a fist on his armour. "Lyn can try all she wants, but she's never going to knock me down."

"Okay . . . I just don't like to see her angry at you." Florina looked up at him with her hand to her mouth.  
_  
Gods _she was so _cute_.

"That's nice of you to look out for me, though." He chuckled lightly. "Not many people do that."

"I'm sorry."

"Are you doing naughty things behind everyone's backs?" Hector spoke with a teasing tone in his voice. "Because guilty people apologize less often than you." He poked her lightly on the arm. Florina rubbed her arm and blinked up at him.

"S-so . . . how are you?" she asked shyly.

"I'm okay." He gave a stretch. "A little bored, but I'm okay."

"D-did you want to do something? Because I'm done with work." She asked as her turquoise eyes glanced up at him timidly.

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" He smiled.

Florina found herself sitting in that sunny field again. But this time Hector was lying down next to her. She felt so awkward, so out of place.

"Hey Florina?" She nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Y-yes?" She stuttered.

". . . TAG! YOU'RE IT!" He tapped her arm and darted away from her as fast as he could. Florina sighed as she got up; was everyone _certain_ that Hector was seventeen? Because he certainly acted like a six-year-old sometimes. No matter, she didn't want to know what'd happen if she refused to go along.  
Florina was _not_ letting him get away like that though. The one mistake Hector made was forgetting that even though Florina was small, she was _much_ quicker than him. In no time she had tagged him back and was sprinting away. "Hey! No fair!" he came to a screeching halt and spun around.

"You know that's fair!" She called over her shoulder. There was no way he was going to catch her, and that gave her confidence.

"It was _not!_" he shouted back. She let a giggle escape. Hector ran as hard as he could to catch her, but she was just too fast for him. He eventually had to stop and catch his second wind.

"Not . . . fair . . . You know . . . you're faster . . . than me . . ." Hector huffed.

"You know that too!" She called from a distance.

"C'mon! Just let me tag you!" He whined.

"I thought you just said _I_ wasn't being fair!" Florina hollered. Hector's cheeks puffed out a bit and his eyes glinted at her. Florina tried so hard to hold it in, but a laugh escaped. She slapped her hands over her mouth; all her confidence drained away.

"What's so funny?" He muttered.

"S-sorry," She looked down and scuffed her boot against the ground. "W-when you're mad, y-you look kinda. . ." Oh darn it! Florina needed the right word! The same word for when he was asleep in the quarantine tent! Not cute . . . but . . . what was it? "Funny" would either hurt his feelings or make him really angry, and Florina didn't want that. ". . . I . . . I l-like how you look." She decided to play it safe. In all honesty he looked completely benign, for a moment she forgot it was Hector she was laughing at. Hector held the pouty look for a moment more before he cocked his head and blinked at her.

"I thought you said I was scary when I was mad." Florina shrugged a bit. Had she the courage, she'd tell him that he looked far from menacing when he had a mopey look on his face. Hector collapsed to the ground and let out a breath.  
"I'm tired." He mumbled. Florina came a bit closer, but kept her distance. "You know, you _can_ come closer to me Florina, I'm not going to eat you." He sighed. Florina sat down next to him, still a little cautious. His chest rose up and down as he took heavy breaths.

"D-did I run you t-too hard?" Florina asked, drawing her hands up to her mouth.

"It's okay, I need the exercise." He put his hands behind his head. "I'm getting out of shape."

"Y-you took out that b-bandit yesterday." Florina pointed out. She wished she hadn't, for she had been reminded of how frightening he was when he was truly infuriated.

"Well I was pretty upset. No one messes with you if I can help it." He softly punched her arm. She was shocked at how gentle a touch it was; just a light tap. She had seen him play-punch Eliwood much harder, and he could give a real punch that had his enemies counting stars. She instinctively rubbed her arm, even though it didn't actually hurt.

"T-thank you Hector." She blushed a bit.

"Not a problem." He smiled. Florina twisted her fingers into the grass around them. Since the field was unkempt, the grass grew long. It wasn't like walking through a brush due to the fact that horses grazed on it often enough to wear down the turf's growth, but the blades still grew somewhat tall. Florina found herself braiding the green shoots together. Her fingers weaved quickly through the blades as her mind wandered off. Hector looked over at her and sat up.

"What are you doing?" He chuckled; the grass blades almost looked like Guy's ponytail, the way she braided them together.

"Um . . . J-just playing with the g-grass." She stuttered. Hector's smile seemed to grow.

"You do that when you're bored?"

"W-well . . ." She trailed off. "I-I used to braid Huey's m-mane and tail when I was bored." She mumbled.

"Ah." He nodded. That stupid horse had to be gone for a week now. How long would it take before the dumb animal came back? Florina undid her grass-braid and looked across the meadow. Soon she spotted some red and white flowers growing a few feet away. She got up and inspected them. Their stems were the right length and thick enough. She picked a few of them and began to weave them together in a wreath. Hector now had a piece of grass in his mouth, chewing the end of it lightly. Florina finished her wreath and looked it over.

"Pretty good." Hector took out the grass blade for a moment.

"T-thanks . . ." She looked up at him.

"Is that your secret talent?"

"I . . . I guess . . ." she mumbled. Florina didn't think of herself as very good at much. Of what she was good at, it was normally mandatory that she be good at it. She had to be good at riding, she had to know how to use a spear, and she had to know how to care for her Pegasus. Braiding was just sheer luck. She was generally clumsy with her hands, but she had taught herself how to braid to pass time. Whether it was a secret talent or not, she didn't really know. "D-do you have one? . . . A-a secret talent . . . I mean." She stuttered.

"Me?" Hector pointed at himself. "Nah, I'm kind of a faulty person. Kit only keeps me around because I'm durable, and Eliwood would skin her alive if she got rid of me." Florina felt a little sympathetic; didn't he care? He was treated like a stupid, rough-housing, insensitive jerk and he was okay with it? It didn't matter how petrified Florina was of him, he wasn't made up purely of flaws. Florina couldn't think of anything to say to that, she could only look at him with dismayed eyes. Didn't anyone think about how it might hurt him? "What's with the puppy-eyes?" He cocked his head.

"I-I'm sorry." She shook the misty look from her eyes. "I . . . ah . . ." She rubbed her shoulder. Hector was a little confused. He just said it how it was and she gets all sensitive? Was she okay?

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked.

"No! . . . I mean, yes! I mean . . ." she let out a sigh. "D-d-doesn't anyone a-appreciate you?" Hector looked at her. She was getting all misty-eyed over _that_?

"Of course I'm appreciated." He chuckled. "You don't need to feel sorry for me." He rubbed her on the head briefly. Her pulse had to be going at least ten miles a minute.

"O-okay . . ." Florina blinked up at him. Even though he told her she didn't have to feel bad, she felt compelled to. She looked up at the sky; it was a perfect blue, dotted by clouds of strange shapes. She looked intently at them, she noticed that most of the clouds had a flat top, but were bumpy otherwise. "L-looks like it'll rain sometime today o-or tomorrow."

"Rain? Aw I hate rain." Hector grumbled.

"Probably n-not for s-several hours." She shrugged.

"How can you tell?" He looked over at her.

"The c-clouds. I-if they have a flat top, a s-storm is probably coming. . ." She pointed.

"Oh. Cool." He mumbled. He leaned back and pointed up.

"That one kinda looks like a cow." For someone with such a mature body, he was pretty childish.

"Y-yeah, it does." Florina nodded. He was right; the cloud had two spiraling loops twisting upward and a thick middle.

"And that one looks like Lyn!" . . . actually Florina didn't think it looked like anything at all. She stared at him, rather confused. ". . . Well it _does_." His eyebrows lifted. She shook her head and let out a breath. Now he was just being ridiculous.

"What do you think that one looks like?" She pointed at another.

"Hm . . . that looks like a cloud." He mumbled thoughtfully. She gave him what looked like a glare, but because it was Florina looking at him, it wasn't too harsh. "Oh." He chuckled. "That one looks like . . . a hammer . . . fish . . . dragon . . . potato . . . thingy . . ." He trailed off; he sat up and looked at it from a different angle. "Oh. Never mind, it's a tree." She let out a small giggle. "I like this; this is fun." Hector knocked his boots together.

"I-I'm glad." Florina glanced over at him.

"Are you having fun too?"

"S-sure. . ." She stuttered a bit.

"Good." Hector smiled. "Thanks for coming out here with me Florina; you're a good friend."  
The world suddenly stopped for Florina. His friend? She was his friend? B-but . . . _why_? She didn't quite understand. Didn't he know she was afraid of him? He had to! She showed it, he had to have seen her shaking whenever he did so much as casually pat her on the head! It seemed as if she was thinking for hours, but not even a minute had passed by.

"Y-y-you're welcome . . ." She quivered. His smile grew a bit and he looked back up at the sky.

"How hard do you think it'll rain?" Florina studied the clouds again. She took off her glove and stuck her finger in her mouth, then lifted it into the air to test the wind.

"I-it's not a huge s-storm, b-but stronger than a d-drizzle. I-it's good that the plants get the water they need to grow." She put her glove back on. Hector had never really thought of it that way, but that made pretty good sense.

"How fast do you think it'll dry up?" he asked.

"W-well out here in the sun it'll be gone in at l-least a half-an-hour, but in the t-thicket it will probably n-need one or two hours to dry." She murmured thoughtfully.

"Cool." He stretched a bit. "You're smart Florina."

"T-t-thanks." She covered her face to hide the redness.

"You're welcome." He grinned.

"Young Master! Young Master!" A voice called. Hector's smile faded and now he bore an agitated look.

"_What?_ Can't you see I'm _busy_?" He spun around and glared daggers at Matthew.

"Sorry, didn't know you were having alone time." Matthew folded his arms as he made his way to the Ostian Lord. "Oh, Florina's with you." Matthew waved to the Pegasus knight, who shyly waved back. "Anyways, that's not why I'm here. Hector, we'd like some help chopping up the fire wood."

"But Matthew-" Hector let out a whine.

"What are you, three years old? Come on, you can torment poor Florina some other time."

"Very funny." Hector huffed.

"Come on, you've got a better arm than I have for chopping wood."

"Fine." Hector sighed. "I've gotta go Florina, but we can hang out later, okay?"

"O-okay. . ." Florina waved as Hector got up and left.  
It was odd; the weird feeling was no more, but now she felt lonesome and isolated.

* * *

So, I hope you liked it! Review if you liked it or want to help make it better (As you know, don't be mean, but don't be a happy-rainbow spew of compliments)

I work hard to make this good for you, but I'll go that extra mile if I need to!

Ta~


	11. Negotiations

Alright, I had a feeling this chapter needed work. (Didn't I say? Didn't I? XD)  
So I've done some editing and touching up to it, and hopefully it's better than before. I like it a lot better this way too.

In case you cared what changes I made:

There's more of an opening, so it's not completely weird that Matthew asked Hector to help him hack wood. (ALLITERATION. RAWR.)  
I'm not going psycho-fangirl on you with Hector's muscles.  
Guy is a commoner, again so when he's sleeping he's just wearing his shirt loosened, his belts are gone, etc.  
We don't randomly go from pillow fights to guessing games to talking about girls, there's a transition.  
Marcus isn't calling everyone a kid.  
And I've fixed a few of the words in caps that could probably go in italics. (not all of them, if I ever completely make the transition it'll take a long time)

Also (rather obviously), the author's note isn't _that_ long this time so it's not too distracting.

Enjoy!

* * *

Matthew wheezed as he tried to hoist the axe up. Hector shook his head as his smaller companion struggled to lift the thing above his head. No wonder Matthew had come to him for help; the little idiot probably couldn't chop wood if his life was on the line. It wasn't as if Matthew would go to Dorcas or Bartre or anyone; he just had to come to Hector. Who ─though put off because his alone time was interrupted─ didn't hold it against Matthew.  
In reality Hector didn't mind chopping wood. He didn't care too much that he was a noble; if he could fight as a gladiator, he could chop wood. He found the work almost relaxing. He just had to pretend the hunk of wood was Lyn's face and . . . alright, maybe he shouldn't be thinking those thoughts, but still; he found a little labor did him good. Speaking of labor, Matthew wasn't accomplishing any while expending all of his energy.

"Baby." Hector snatched the cleaver from Matthew and rested it on his shoulder effortlessly. "If you can't actually lift the stupid thing, then make yourself useful by getting the pushcart." Hector pointed towards the wooden wheelbarrow.

"Yes sir!" Matthew chittered before bouncing off to retrieve it. Sometimes Matthew's optimism made Hector want to upchuck. Matthew returned with the crudely built cart loaded with wood. "Um . . . now what?"

"Don't just stand there; put some down!" Hector sighed; he really _did_ get stuck with all the lame henchmen. This one needed a lord to help him chop wood.

"Right away young master!"

"And don't call me that if you're feeling so causal!"

"Right away Hector!" Matthew nodded and dropped a piece of wood before Hector. He quickly pulled his hands back, knowing the lord would bring down the axe quicker than expected.  
_SLAM! _  
Matthew threw the pieces of wood to the side where a pile would grow before placing another piece down.

Hector let out a breath and wiped his brow as Matthew plunked another block of wood down and pulled back his hands. Hector swung the axe over his head and brought it down on the wood. Matthew waited for Hector to move his axe and threw the wood into the heap just to the left of him.

"She's cute." Matthew spoke up, picking up another piece of timber.

"Huh?" Hector pushed his navy bangs from his equally blue eyes.

"She's cute. You've got good taste." Matthew pulled back his hands as Hector brought the axe down.

"Oh. . ." Hector realized what Matthew meant. "You know I'm not involved with her." He rubbed his bare shoulder; his muscles tensed as he worked.

"Yeah, I know." Matthew shrugged, throwing the chopped up firewood into the pile. "But she's cagey even when talking to me; she's really opened up to you."

"Has she?" Hector rubbed his neck. "Because I haven't noticed."

"She's gone from crying when you try to talk to her to sitting in a meadow, cloud gazing with you. That's a big step." Matthew set another chunk of wood in front of Hector.

"I'm getting all the stuff you took from me back." Hector poked Matthew in the chest.

"Is this what all this is about?" Matthew raised his eyebrows. "Because even as someone who loves shiny things, I do have your best interests in mind as well."

"I'm sure you do." Hector rolled his eyes and brought the axe down.

"Come on, I have a heart too." Matthew chuckled. "Is that really the only reason you're talking to her?"

"Actually no. It's a nice reward if I manage to pull it off, but it's not my top priority. Florina's been nice to me; the least I can do is offer companionship."

"I knew you weren't that low." Matthew snickered. "I'm not the one lucky enough to know her; what is she like?" Matthew threw another piece of wood down.

"Well once you get past the coy exterior, she's really pretty sweet. And she's awfully smart."

"She completes you!" Matthew let out a laugh.

"Oh shut up." Hector rolled his eyes. He swung the axe down on the slab of wood in front of him.

"In all reality I don't see any difference in her opening up to me."

"Well that makes you either ignorant or blind." Matthew let out a sigh, pushing the wood into the heap. "Because just a week ago she turned red just by talking to you."

"I dunno, I just don't see it." Hector rubbed the back of his head.

"Well get used to noticing, because it's getting pretty obvious." Matthew wiped his own brow. "Hey, when's our next late night?" Matthew turned to Hector.

"Actually I think it's tonight."

"Can I invite Guy?"

"You two are going to be at each other's necks."

"Guy asked if there was any other ways he could repay me, and we can't play the Laughing game with only three people." Matthew blinked up at Hector.

"Speaking of which, you are partnering up with Eliwood; he barely makes it past round one when he's with me." Hector wiped his nose.

"Fine." Matthew placed another block of wood down.

"I thought we chopped enough."

"Hm, you catch on faster than I thought." That earned Matthew a very hard shove.

"Just invite Guy if you're that desperate." Hector rolled his eyes, while Matthew fist pumped.

Matthew sat cross-legged on the tent floor with a piece of paper titled "Favors Guy owes me". He scratched off and added on a few things as Hector looked over his shoulder.

"Matthew, you _can't_ add favors on for things he's paid you back with!"

"Drat! Foiled again!" Matthew growled. He scratched a few more things off the list. "I thought I'd get away with that, I mean he would've believed he owed me for inviting him." Matthew put the pencil behind his ear. He folded his list and put it in his cape pocket. Guy entered the tent wearing his shirt loose and no belts. His braid was a simple ponytail now, and his headband was dangling around his neck.

"Hey there," He sat down on the floor. "Thanks again for inviting me."

"Not a problem, but this goes on-" Matthew noted how Hector flexed his arm and thought over what he was going to say carefully. ". . . No problem Guy! Anytime!"

"Heh, were you going to add this on to your list?" Guy chuckled. "Because I'm not that stupid."

"Dang it." Matthew muttered under his breath.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry I'm late; I had to tether my horse."

"Pony."

"Shut it Hector." Eliwood slammed a pillow over Hector's head. Hector raised his eyebrows and took the cushion in his hands.

"No wait! Have mercy!" Too late. Hector pummeled Eliwood in a spilt second. "The pain! It burns!" Eliwood cried as Hector whacked him with the pillow. Guy and Matthew were left to chuckle at the two lords.

"Instead of killing each other, how about we actually do something?" Guy suggested.

"Good plan."

"Sure." Oddly, that got their attention.

"What should we play?"

"How about that game where you put a word on someone's head and they guess what it says?"

"Oh! I love that game!" Matthew pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.

"Who wants to go first?"

"I guess I will." Eliwood shrugged. Matthew scribbled something down on the paper and then tied to Eliwood's head.

"Is it a weapon?"

"Well. . ." Hector mumbled in a humorous tone.

"No. It's not a weapon." Guy shook his head.

"Is it a tool?"

"Define tool."

"Is it used to fix things?"

"No." Eliwood pondered. He didn't know what the card they had tied to his head actually had on it, and their answers only made it more confusing. The paper read "Ladle", but Eliwood couldn't figure it out.

"Is it made of wood?"

"It can be. But it doesn't have to be." Matthew eyed the card. Eliwood was left extremely puzzled.

" . . . Well I give up, what is it?" Matthew pulled the card from Eliwood's head and showed it to him.

"Aw! How did I not get that?" Eliwood groaned.

"Is it just me or am I sick of this game?" Matthew finally sighed.

"I think you're right; we've been playing it forever. Let's talk about dames!" Eliwood sat up, only to he thwacked by Hector's pillow.

"Must I explain this to everyone? _Girls_ talk about who they like at sleepovers."

"I bet that's a cover up for being too chicken to tell us who you like." Matthew jabbed Hector in the side.

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"People, are we gonna talk about chicks or not?" Guy asked, playing with his ponytail.

"I bet I know who Matthew likes." Eliwood leaned in with a malicious grin.

"NO." He glared at Eliwood.

"Matthew has yet to actually confess his love to Serra!" Guy snickered.

"Do you want me to revoke this favor buddy?" Matthew snarled.

"But you _do_ like her." Guy beamed. Matthew hid his face behind his pillow.

"Alright she _is_ pretty cute. But you guys have to promise not to tell _anyone_. Otherwise she'll stalk me even more than she does already."

"Alright, we promise." Eliwood held up his hand as if he were taking an oath.

"So what about you Guy? I know I'm not the only one who fancies clerics." Matthew sneered at the swordsman. Guy lost his look of dominance and blushed madly.

"Well . . ."

"'Oh my dear lady Priscilla! How doth the sunset compare to thy flaming locks? Bah! The dusk hath but no meaning when next to your fawn-colored hair!'" Eliwood and Hector let out a laugh.

"I don't speak like _that_!" Guy folded his arms, very flustered.

"You _should_. It'd give you confidence." Matthew chuckled.

"I highly doubt that."

"It's the truth I tell you! CONFIDENCE!" Matthew shouted.

"What are you all _doing_ in there that calls for so much noise?" Marcus' voice made the four very meek.

"_Nothing._" Eliwood answered in an extremely sugar-coated tone.

"Alright, if you're sure." Marcus replied before he was gone.

"And you say I'm loud?" Hector shot Matthew a glare.

"I didn't know he was there!" Matthew's face was red with humiliation. "Honestly, he's so quiet!"

"Whatever." Hector rolled his eyes. Eliwood suddenly caught his attention, but he remembered his promise and kept his mouth closed.

"Who do you like Eliwood?" Matthew turned to the Pheraen lord. Eliwood did not respond. "Oh what? You're too lily-livered?"

"No." He muttered.

"Hector, who does Eliwood like?"

"I don't know." Hector shrugged, he focused to keep his eyebrows from smiling; they did that when he lied.

"Just tell us!" Matthew lolled out on the tent floor and pulled at Eliwood's arm. Eliwood let out a sigh.

"I'm surprised that you haven't even bothered to take a guess."

"Lyn?"

"EW!" Hector burst out laughing.

"Oh come on, she's not that bad Hector." Eliwood rolled his eyes. "Good guess but no."

"Um . . . I dunno. Who?" Eliwood looked over at Hector and then back at Matthew.

". . . Nin . . . an"

"I didn't quite catch that."

"Ninian." Eliwood turned bright red.

"Oh Ninian! The dragon girl?"

"She _is_ the only Ninian in the camp." Eliwood murmured.

"Yeah she's cute." Matthew nodded.

"She's _mine._" Eliwood growled.

"Alright, you can have her." Matthew shrugged passively. "So that leaves . . ." a smile spread across his face. "Oh _Hector_," Hector felt the cruel

pleasure in Matthew's voice. "Who do _you_ like?" Matthew knew. Eliwood knew. He only wanted Hector to say it because he enjoyed seeing the Ostian lord squirm.

"I don't like anyone." Hector took a breath.

"Lies!"

"Relax guys; Hector doesn't have to tell if he doesn't want to." Eliwood spoke up.  
Something wasn't right about Eliwood's tone of voice. Or the fact that Eliwood had defended his right to tell. If he confessed his crush on Ninian, it'd only be fair if Hector did as well . . . what was he doing? It hit Hector; Eliwood was trying to make him look weak. Definitely payback for calling him a pansy. It didn't matter now though; Hector was caught between a rock and a hard place. Could he risk his morale and esteem? Would he be able to say he liked someone? Even if his reputation as a strong and powerful lord was important, he didn't think he could man up and say he liked Florina with courage. Anything but pride in his voice would signify further weakness.  
Hector may not have been intellectual and may have ignored his common sense, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew that if he said the wrong thing, he could kiss _both_ his reputation and Florina goodbye. He finally broke out into a smile; a cruel, teasing smile.

"Why thank you Eliwood." Hector's voice was sweet, almost dripping with honey. "I'm glad I've got a friend like you watching my back." He gave Eliwood a playful shove, though underlying intentions told otherwise. "You're always looking out for me; it'd be selfish to pass up your kindness." Eliwood's smile faded to a dropped jaw. Guy and Matthew were unsuspecting, but Eliwood knew very well what Hector really implied. "After all; you did tell me to be a little nicer." Eliwood felt a stab of humiliation. His own advice used against him. That jerk! If Eliwood were just a bit bigger he'd sucker punch Hector up the- . . . oh, who was he kidding? He set Hector up, he had it coming. Hector kept Eliwood's secret about Ninian, _he_ told Guy and Matthew himself. This wasn't like him; messing with his friends like a cat with a dying mouse. The humiliation was overwhelming him, and he suddenly felt as if lying down and ignoring the situation would be the best thing to ever happen to him. If Matthew had done it, he probably would have turned out victorious. Maybe there was no way to win that battle; maybe Matthew knew better and that's why he didn't even try. At least Eliwood's name wasn't that badly damaged, just a knick. But if he could come up with a good reply quickly, he could come off clean.

"I didn't know you were so good at fighting verbal battles Hector; it's a lot of brain power." Eliwood in the upper hand.

"Not you too!" Hector barked; he was flustered whenever someone teased his intelligence.

"But whatever, I did defend you and you don't have to."

"NO!" Guy and Matthew cried simultaneously. Matthew merely wanted to see the lordling as bashful as his crush.

"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" Guy pleaded.

"I'll give you a tenth of what I-"

"We already have a deal, and I'll stick with that one, thanks much." Hector replied, feeling triumphant.

"Please, I beg of you!" Guy folded his hands. It wasn't fair; he didn't _have_ to get so excited about girls! . . . Not that he _liked_ any, especially Priscilla.

"Come on! We told you who we liked!" Matthew whined.

"Correction; you never actually said you liked them. We suggested them and you gave in." Eliwood pointed out.

"Give us our rights!" Matthew chucked a pillow at Hector. Hector sighed as it bounced off his head.

"I'm tired. I vote for sleep."

"I vote for sleep as well." Eliwood turned down the lantern.

"Come on, just _say_ it!" Matthew waved his arms.

"Go to sleep Matthew." Hector muttered as he buried his face into his covers.

"Guy! Back me up!" Matthew turned to the swordsman.

"Does it count as a favor?"

"Why would it?"

"Go to bed." Guy curled up into a little ball and rested his head on his pillow.

"No! It counts! It counts!"

"Shut up and go to sleep." Eliwood glanced over.

"Come on! We won't even lau-"

"SHUT UP MATTHEW!"

". . . fine. _Be_ that way." Matthew snorted before sprawling out and closing his eyes. ". . . I know who you like anyways."

"If you can't shut up I will happily _teach_ you." Hector's voice was deadly.

"Go to bed Matthew, I can't get any sleep when Hector is beating you up." Eliwood groaned.

"Fine." Matthew growled. He didn't think he wanted Guy there to witness him getting a black eye.

* * *

Yes, I have fixed it! Yeah, I know it's not perfect, but it was better than before. See? I take advice, I won't bite you, just be honest and I believe what I want to. (Let's all be thankful that I admit I'm far from the best)  
This chapter isn't really obligatory to read, being one of those "Nothing happens because I just needed to pass time in the story" chapters. . .which is long and confuzzling. It was fun though and I'm glad I got feedback.

Ta~


	12. Striking Conclusion

*breaks through the wall* I'M BACK GUYS!  
Though I'm not sure for how long XDX  
I'm trying though, I'm trying. I've got an actual life (sorta), I have tons of school work, I beta-read for the Kirby archive and that's been crazy recently. . .yeah, you get the point.

So anyways, about the chapter.

I don't think this is as good as persay, chapter 6 (my favorite so far). However, it's a heck(tor) of a lot better than chapter 11.  
. . .C'mon guys, we all know that one was sub-par. You say not to say that because I'll lose readers, and then I get pagelong reviews on what to fix? HIPPOCRISY!  
*laughs* just kidding, I did fix it up to make easier to swallow. I've been working really hard for you guys to make this story better, so I hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Striking conclusion  
**

Hector woke up to a distant cracking noise and the scent of moisture in the air. It was unusually cold for a summer morning, and though he couldn't see outside, he noted that very little light came through the tent's tarp. It had to be early; he saw Matthew coiled up a few feet away from him, sleeping like a rock. Matthew was normally the first one up. Hector didn't want to get up just yet though; he felt so warm where he was right now. Hector's eyelids felt like they weighed fifty pounds each and he was perfectly happy right where he was.  
_  
CRACK! _

He heard thunder off in the distance. Though startled, he wasn't worried about lightning or anything; they were camped out in the clearing of a forest, so if the lightning were to strike anything it'd be the trees. What was weird was the fact that he heard the thunder and smelled the moisture in the air, but he heard no rain. He assumed that the rainstorm was on its way; sometimes the rains came after a bout of thunder, but it would come very soon if he could hear thunder.

In Florina and Ninian's tent, the two were sitting up, a little shaken up by the loud booming of the thunder.

"I wish lord Eliwood was here." Ninian sniffed.

"Or maybe Lyn . . ." Florina shuddered. Lyn had her own tent because she was a lord, Hector and Eliwood shared a tent because they were close and enjoyed each other's company. Florina wasn't scared of the thunder really; she liked rain. But she was cold, and the thunder always startled her. "I-it's not so bad," Florina shrugged "S-sure it's loud, but it can't hurt us."

"That's true." Ninian looked at her hopefully.

"A-and when it starts to rain it gets relaxing, y-you know?"

"Yeah." A smile slowly spread across Ninian's face. "It's almost time to get up, isn't it?"

"I bet lord Eliwood will be happy to comfort you." Florina gave a nod

"You think he will?" Ninian smiled.

"I do, he's always very nice to you."

"Yeah," Ninian blushed. Another rumble of thunder sounded throughout the air and both girls let out a squeak.

"I bet he's not scared of thunder." Florina encouraged.

"He's so brave." Ninian giggled. "I feel bad for you Florina, I've got lord Eliwood, but you don't have anyone to make you feel safe . . ."

"It's okay, I'm used to it. And I can take care of myself." Florina shrugged. Now that she thought of it, Ninian was right; when Florina was even mildly afraid of something other than a man, she was left especially helpless. Fear was a common emotion for her and everyone knew that, but they truly only noticed her terror when it came to men. Thus, Florina was left hanging when it came to little things.

Well now it was time for the girls to get dressed. Even after grooming, they remained in the tent; being outside during a storm when it was a practical ghost town didn't seem like an enjoyable option. Florina was happy to light their lantern however; it was very dark, and the warm light gave her a sense of comfort as well.

"I hope Nils is okay, he doesn't like storms." Ninian murmured, thinking of her little brother.

"I'm sure he's fine; he's got Lucius in his tent doesn't he?"

"Yes, Lucius is very kind to him." Florina felt a little awkward when it came to talking about the blonde monk; she had no sense of fear near him despite the fact she knew he was a man, and she actually enjoyed his company, but she knew that might be taken the wrong way by some people. She didn't want to insult Lucius at all.

"I hope Huey's okay out there during this storm." Florina sighed.

"You don't think she'll get struck by lightning, do you?"

"No, you can't get struck by lightning unless you're touching the ground. And even so, she's smart; she wouldn't stand in an open area during a thunderstorm."

"Oh, well that's a relief." Ninian breathed.

"I hope she doesn't get chilled or sick or anything though." Florina murmured. "Speaking of which, I'll probably be grooming her forever when she gets back."

"I'll help if it's okay with you."

"Sure, if you want."

"Maybe you could show me how you braid so fast?" Ninian asked hopefully.

"That sounds like a good idea." Florina smiled at the garnet-eyed girl. They could hear a few voices outside and decided it was time to get up.

Florina headed straight over to the stables and cared for the horses. She made sure all of the windows in the stable were shut tightly, and that none of the horses were cold. She then got to the business of feeding them, which didn't take very long. She lingered in the stable however; she felt a small sense of camaraderie, being near the horses. She had felt a little lonesome, even with Ninian. She felt unusual thought . . . didn't Hector normally come to see her when she was in the stables? He was probably still asleep, and even if he was awake, he might feel like he would be intruding if the stable door was shut. But she had to keep it that way so the horses would not catch cold, so she decided to check and see if he was up. She closed the door tightly and made her way to the middle of the camp. The tarp was set up for when the rain came, and Florina could see that a few of her female comrades were up. Lyn was making breakfast, when she noticed Florina and prepared her a plate.

"Hello Florina, did you sleep alright with the thunder?"

"Yeah, we got a little scared, but I slept okay." Florina answered, tucking into her breakfast.

"Good. I was a little worried about you." Lyn smiled sympathetically.

"Hey, you wouldn't have happened to see Hector up would you? . . . h-he um . . . w-wanted to ask me something." Florina lied; Lyn would become suspicious if Florina wanted to know where he was for no reason. To Florina's surprise, Lyn bought it.

"Well I haven't seen him, but I don't hear him snoring so he must be awake." She shrugged as she prepared a plate for Nino.

"Alright, just wondering." Florina replied casually. "This is good Lyn, I really like it." She commented, nibbling on her breakfast sausage.

"Why thank you, I'm glad you like my cooking." Lyn smiled. She could be so kind, and yet she could be so harsh.  
She had never been harsh with Florina; she had always been patient and understanding, even when Florina deserved a tongue-lashing of any size. But when she was with Hector, she would hiss and yell and challenge him without a second thought. Normally Florina told herself that men couldn't hurt her, and normally that was true. Hector was an exception, and a big one at that. He could probably kill an entire enemy army in his sleep. Florina was surprised that he hadn't killed _Lyn _yet. He was kind to Florina however, and this left her very confused on how to feel about him. He was frightening and nice at the same time, so how was she supposed to feel about him?

"Florina?" Lyn's voice snapped her back into reality. "If you wanted to see Hector, he's over there." Lyn pointed at the blue haired lord, who was talking with Matthew. Matthew nodded and walked over to Ninian he motioned for her to come follow him and proceeded to have a conversation with her. A mysterious smirk spread across her face and she seemed to be telling him a list of things. Florina shook her head free of whatever Ninian was doing and made her way over to Hector.

"Hi Florina!" he smiled brightly.

"Hi . . ." She looked up at him shyly. " . . . How are you?" She focused to keep herself from stuttering.

"I'm good. How about you?"

"I'm okay. . ." She murmured softly.

"So did you need something?" Hector cocked his head.

"Hm? Oh. N-not really. I just wanted to say hi. I-is that okay?" She really wished she had more confidence sometimes, but it all drained away at the slightest things.

"Don't be silly; of course it's okay." He chuckled. "You don't need permission to see me you know, you can come talk to me whenever you like." He shook his head at her, a faint smile on his lips.

"O-okay." She nodded.

"Yeah. Let's get under the tarp and to the fire; it's pretty cold out here." He softly nudged her before making his way under the canvas. Ninian was back and turned, eager to see Florina. She gave Florina a look that told her that she wanted to talk later on. Florina sat down and looked up at Lyn. Lyn shot her a smile and then turned to look at Hector cynically.

"Morning Hector." She murmured blandly.

"Good Morning Lyn." Hector smiled. "How'd you sleep?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Lyn spat.

"Geez Lyn, I was just being friendly." Hector huffed. "Sorry I asked." Lyn let out a 'humph' and ignored Hector. "How did you sleep Florina? You were right about there being a storm." Hector turned to the Pegasus knight.

"Uh . . . I slept okay."

"Did the thunder scare you?"

"A bit . . . b-but not much." Florina stuttered.

"Alright, I'm glad you're okay. I hope Huey's alright out in thi-" Lyn cut off Hector and stared him down.

"You know, you don't have to nose your way into her personal business." She snarled in aggression.

"Well pardon me Princess Lyn, I'm just being nice to people who appreciate me!" Hector growled. Florina prayed that Lyn would back down; her prayers were answered almost miraculously when Eliwood's voice startled her.

"Lyn! The tactician wants to see you!" Eliwood called out.

"I've got to go, but you'll be okay with Ninian and Nino, right?" Lyn turned to Florina.

"Yeah." Florina nodded. Lyn would have shot Hector a scowl had she not been in a hurry. Florina thought relieved, was greatly annoyed that Lyn continued to vex Hector. Wouldn't she learn? Florina already told her she didn't want Lyn calling Hector a lout, it should come naturally to her that Florina didn't like it when they argued. Florina noticed Nino and Ninian sit down closer to her out of the corner of her eye. Hector was glowering at Lyn from a distance, but she was too busy conversing with the tactician to notice. He finally pried his eyes from her and let out a huff. Florina just stared at him, blocking out the rest of the world once more.

Now that she thought of it, Hector was really the only man that she could tolerate being around. Sure Eliwood was another, but Hector was different. She didn't know how or why, he was just different. At first whenever she thought of him, she felt every negative emotion spread throughout her body like some kind of horrible tumor. Now she felt a wave of confusion. Her own body and mind weren't sure whether she should be pleased to see him or not. And that weird feeling; she felt that too.

And speaking of that, she was beginning to hate it.

She had no clue what it was, no clue why it happened when it did, no idea what in Elibe was wrong with her. At first it was only when Hector invaded her personal space. Now, it was at friendly comments and sometimes even by simply looking at him.  
She didn't know why this weird sensation happened. She _detested_ it though.  
She felt her thoughts take off like a herd of Pegasii when she felt Hector's eyes on her. He let out a sigh before cocking his head slightly.

"You have nice eyes." Hector murmured. They were a cool turquoise; however the dark parts of her eyes were a warmer teal. Right now they weren't stricken with fear. They were introspective and deep; if a little timid. Now they flooded with embarrassment, which Hector thought didn't look as nice as the thoughtful gaze from before.  
_  
Flop._ Florina's stomach turned itself over. She unknowingly placed a hand on it, but she could _definitely _feel the churning.

"Uh . . . t-thank you." Florina was sure she wouldn't have faltered at all if her stomach didn't just try to climb up her throat.

"You're welcome." Another _flop_. This had never happened before, but Florina was a bit apprehensive. She gave a silent nod to Hector, not wanting to be rude.

"Uh, Nino?" She turned to the purple cloaked mage.

"Yeah?" Nino smiled fondly at Florina.

"I . . . um . . . I feel sick."

"You feel sick?" Nino's eyebrows raised in concern.

"C-can we head to my tent and t-talk about it?" Nino could read Florina's eyes like a book . . . even though Nino couldn't read books. She nodded and stood up.

"Ninian, could you come with us?"

"Of course." Ninian got up as well. The anima mage took Florina's hand and lead her away.

"So what's wrong? Do you know?" Nino put a hand to Florina's forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever. . ."

"I'm so confused." Florina sighed. "It's really weird and it's only been happening recently."

"Go on." Nino softly prodded.

"Lately I've been getting this weird feeling."

"A weird feeling? Explain."

"I don't even know where to start! My heart starts beating too fast, my whole body feels all fuzzy and strange, and my head spins."

"Spins?"

"It's not really like I'm dizzy, but everything seems to be going in fast forward. And just a few moments ago my stomach was doing flips."

"Did you eat anything strange?"

"No, I've just been eating regular food from camp."

"No one else you spend time near feels sick?"

"Not that I know of."

"Does it feel like you're going to throw up?"

"No, it's just churning, but I don't like it."

"Well I don't blame you." Nino sighed, sitting back. Normally she was good about taking care of sick or injured people. But these were strange symptoms, Florina didn't seem sick, but she felt odd. Nino had never encountered this before. Unless . . . could it be? No, Florina couldn't . . . Nino had to make sure.

"So you feel this way all the time?"

"No, only under certain circumstances."

"What are they?"

"Well, at first I'd only feel it if my personal space was invaded, but now it's at receiving compliments and stuff."

"Is it what you'd call a bad feeling?"

"Not bad, but I'm sick of not knowing what it is." Nino thought it over. It all added up, but . . . She was glad Ninian was there. She turned away  
from Florina and began to whisper with the dancer. Ninian was wide-eyed, but not with horror or shock. She just had wide, impassive, ruby-red eyes. Nino however looked a little concerned; she was biting her knuckle, and her eyebrows were sharply creased. She finally took a breath and turned to Florina. "Am I okay?" Florina was nervous; why did Nino look so worried?

"You're not sick." Nino stated.

"Then why do I feel this way?"

"You aren't sick; I'm just not sure how you're going to take this." Nino sighed.

"What is it? Is it bad?"

"From an outside view no." Nino fidgeted.

"Then what is it?" Florina was getting a bit scared.

"Florina," Nino took a breath. "You can believe whatever you want, but from what you told me . . ." Nino paused, looking for the right words to say it. "You . . . you're in love."

"I'm what?" Florina asked, not quite sure she heard Nino correctly. "But that can't be possible! I'm terrified of men! Who could I be in love with?" Nino looked almost pained; she knew Florina's reaction would not be good.

"Florina . . . you're in love with Lord Hector."

"I'm _WHAT?_ With _WHO?_" Florina was overwhelmed with shock, distraught, and horror. Her face was white as the snow of Ilia. Her legs buckled from underneath her and she collapsed to the ground. She couldn't believe her ears. Nino bit her lip, her sapphire eyes looked sympathetic. Ninian could only stare at Florina, still pokerfaced. As no emotion either danced or played on her lips.

* * *

So I hope you liked it! If you spotted a typo, or something, TELL ME. But as always, don't be a hater; I don't take advice from haters (and so far, I haven't got any, so we're good!)  
And another thing; if something aside from spelling or grammar is wrong, _please_ be specific.  
Remember that despite the fact that I spend 80 percent of my time on the wiki and love the game to pieces, I'm not a guru. If you want me to be a wise woman on something, I'll lecture you on Kirby; I am among the Ultimate Kirby-Gurus.  
"Ninian is OOC" lets me know that I need to fix her, but it doesn't tell me how.

So. . .yeah, if you don't care about anything other than the story, you can go now; I'm gonna blab about how my stupidity has turned into a blessing.

As you may know if you read the author's notes, I had a previous fire emblem file, and I deleted it after I got up to a really hard part (maybe you think the dragon's gate is easy; I don't)  
Only now do I see that it was a blessing in disguise.  
Now, I have Guy; a KILLING, MAIMING, SLICING MACHINE.  
And Canas; DEATH SPELT M-O-N-O-C-L-E

Those two can go onto my team of Epic Ones.

And NO, I will NEVER stop using Marcus, because I LIKE him. JAGANS FTW. (Okay, I know why you shouldn't use them all the time, but still.)


	13. Break Away

Edited after a Misunderstanding in the Reviews:

I've got a bit of bad news.  
The reason I haven't been updating, is because this is going on a hiatus, and I don't know when or if it will come off it.  
I make it a rule to never quit a story unless you're really unhappy writing it, and unfortunately, it's a big struggle emotionally, and to a point, physically, for me to continue with it.

Even after just a year, my writing style and ability changed fast (thankfully for the better), and this story's style is just so different from how I write now. It's like trying to apply art techniques you learned in high school to a drawing you made when you were five; it just won't click.

I shouldn't have to explain anything to anyone, and I decided to do away with the long explanation.

I'm not writing this anymore because I feel AWFUL whenever I consider posting something Fire Emblem-related.

I'm a talented writer.  
But like all writers, I could use work.

As for my future, it's better than this, at least.  
I'm extremely happy in my new fandom, which I've been in for two years now, and I write, draw, and cosplay for it avidly. I'm working on a Fan Novel, and if you'd like to read it when it comes out, be my guest; it'll be much better than this old thing.

So, as a parting gift, here's chapter 13.

...You know, 13 is my lucky number.

* * *

"No! No! No! I _can't_ be in love with him!" Florina exclaimed. She _couldn't_! Maybe she couldn't exactly be afraid of him anymore, and maybe he considered her his friend, but she could _not_ be in love with _Hector_! How was this even _possible?_

"Florina, it's okay." She felt Nino's hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, don't panic."

"I can't be in love with him!" She cried again, voice forlorn. "I can't! I can't! I can't!"

"Calm down." Nino locked eyes with her. "Florina, it's not the end of the world."

"I'm scared of him! I can't love him!" That was a lie. She wasn't afraid of him anymore. She was nervous around him, and maybe she was a little cautious and was in the right to be . . . no matter how hard she insisted it, she wasn't afraid of him anymore. But she couldn't be in love with him!

"Why not?" Nino's azure eyes were firm, but not harsh.

"There are so many reasons!" Florina's eyes held all the melancholy of the world.

"Go on, what are they?"

"He's a noble; I'm just a Pegasus knight."

"Lyn loves Kent, Ninian here loves Eliwood, what's wrong with you loving Hector?"

"Even if that wasn't enough of a reason!He's loud, silly, strong, wild, and . . . he's _Hector_." She sighed. He was everything she wished she could be. She couldn't love someone who was her exact opposite. "I can't love him, he's everything I'm not."

"Florina . . ." Nino took her hands. "You don't have to love people who are just like you. If you did, no one would fall in love in the first place! I'm in love with an _assassin_Florina, an assassin! He's quiet, his fighting skill is amazing, and he's independent. I wouldn't love him if he was just like me, he'd be boring!" Nino dug into Florina's eyes. "Florina, do you feel happy around him?"

"I don't know." she let out a sigh. "I get so confused whenever I see him. My mind doesn't know if I should be happy or scared."

"I see . . .," Nino mumbled, lost in thought. She gazed back into Florina's eyes. "Florina, Hector may not get a lot of slack from most people. He's insensitive sometimes, he's gentlemanly only when he wants to be, and he has a short temper. But if you love him, I will stand by you and be happy for you. And Ninian will too, right?" Ninian nodded sympathetically. "And so will Lyn and all of your other-"

"Lyn!" Florina interrupted, horror covered her visage. "You can NEVER tell Lyn, she _hates_Hector!"

"Lyn would support you!" Nino moved a hand to Florina's shoulder.

"Please never tell her! She can't know!" Florina begged. Nino may have disagreed; she personally thought that Lyn would understand how Florina felt. But if Florina were so shaken up at the thought of Lyn knowing, she'd keep it secret.

"Alright, I'll let you tell her when you're ready." Nino gave a solemn nod to Florina.

"Florina, I know that Lord Eliwood will be very happy. He'd send you his blessings and cheer you on." Ninian spoke up after contemplating what to say.  
"Could you two please not tell anyone? This will spread like a wildfire if it gets out to even one person." Florina pleaded.

"We promise."

"Thank you so much."

"It's nothing to thank us for, it's what friends do." Ninian shook her head.

"Then thank you for being my friends." Florina looked at them endearingly. Suddenly they heard shouting fill the camp. They began to worry when they heard Lucius' horrified voice.

Lucius didn't lose his self-control.

But they heard him loud and clear.

"Oh gods no! Oh Saint Elimine! Nils!" He howled. Ninian's eyes widened and she began to look anxious.

"Calm down, it looks like he just needs a thorough healing." Priscilla's voice was calm, though a little shocked at whatever was going on outside. Ninian was making her way towards the tent flap and peeking out. Under the fire pit's tarp lay Nils, covered in scratches with eyes tightly shut. Priscilla, Lucius, and Oswin stood around him. Ninian's fears were confirmed.

"Oh Nils! My poor brother, Nils!" She cried before running out to meet the group, closely followed by Florina and Nino.

"Don't worry Ninian, Nils will be alright." The Cornwellean healer responded calmly. "Serra! Get the Elite Staff; Nils had an accident!" She turned back to Nils' petrified sister. "From what it looks he's just got scratches. The scratches are all over his body, and he's probably in a lot of discomfort, but I don't think it's anything a healing won't fix. I promise he'll be okay." Serra pounced out of the clerics' tent with the staff. Florina hadn't forgotten it; it was the one used to save Hector.

"I wanna do it! Let _me_do it!" Serra squealed.

"Fine." Priscilla rolled her eyes. Serra closed her eyes and focused her energy into the staff.

"Nils? Can you hear me?" Priscilla asked soothingly after the healing was complete. Nils shuddered before sitting up, a shaken up look spread across his face.

"Th-they're going to attack the camp!" Nils exclaimed.

"Who Nils? Tell us." Ninian took Nils' hand and looked into his eyes.

"Those bandits! I saw them! They've got a whole fresh troupe ready to ambush!" This made everyone's eyes go wide with shock. Lyn, Eliwood and Kit made their way over as soon as they heard. Kit rubbed her temples before whistling to get everyone's attention. That didn't work, as the crowd continued to chatter. Lyn stood up on one of the logs used as benches around the fire and let out what sounded like a nomadic battle cry. That however worked, and everyone turned their attention to her.

"Hey! The tactician is trying to speak!" Lyn called out.

"Thank you Lyn." The uneasiness in Kit's voice implied that Lyn's shrill screaming startled her. "Anyways, we all need to calm down; panicking will not make the situation better. Let's prepare for battle and get ready to defend the camp at all costs." A few voices shouted out remarks and Kit let out a huff. "And yes, this time I _do_have people protecting camp. Matthew, I need you to see what you can find out about their formation and tactics; ride with Kent out of the forest and report back as quickly as you can."

"Yes ma'am!" Matthew nodded and sprinted over to Kent, who was already making his way towards the stables.

"Everyone else, get fresh equipment if you need it." Kit pointed towards the supplies tent. "If you are unable to fight, come to the strategy tent with me." Kit whirled around and marched straight into the tent. Florina turned to look at Ninian, who held lightly to Nils.

"I don't want him out there." Ninian's eyes pleaded. "He may be healed, but I don't want him out there, at least not without me there to watch him."

"Maybe Kit will let you stay behind and take care of him." Florina suggested. "I won't be much help to the army without Huey, so maybe we'll be together." Nils' didn't argue; a vulnerable bard would not be of use in this battle. Ninian gave a silent nod and helped Nils to his feet. The three made their way to the strategy tent and slipped in. Kit looked up at them briefly before fumbling with equipment.

"Alright guys. I can't have any of you in danger, so I'm going to have you escape and meet up with us later. I'm sending Nino, Guy, and Matthew along the back route to guard you, so there shouldn't be any problems. If you run into serious trouble, then retreat to camp. Give either of the boys the order to run for help and I'll send in backup as fast as I can. Head to the supplies tent and get yourself some vulneraries and weapons in case you need to fend for yourself." Kit directed. The three nodded and left the tent.

Soon the group was sneaking through the forest, Guy up front, Matthew in the back. Ninian remained close to Nils, while Nino walked alongside Florina, who was at ease to be with her two friends. Matthew and Guy made her slightly uneasy, but she accepted their presence and focused on the current situation.

"Nino," Florina turned to the mage, whom had a thunder tome in her hand.

"Yes?"

"If. . ." Florina kept a hushed voice, only those who had tempered their ears to her already soft tone could notice her whispers. ". . . If he found out that . . . I like him, what do you think he'd say?" Florina wondered if she should imply that Nino suggested that she was in love. Though Nino's eyes cast the murky gray of the clouds above them, her tone spoke otherwise.

"I wouldn't know. But if I were him, I'd be happy." Nino replied after some thought.

"Do I have to tell him?" Florina's words sounded painful on her lips.

"Florina, of _course_ not. You don't _have_to tell anyone." Nino sighed. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't consider telling him, but you shouldn't feel compelled."

"Alright. Thanks Nino." Florina gave a breath of relief as she played with the javelin strapped to her back.

"You're welcome." Nino smiled. The group remained silent for only a moment more before Ninian spoke up.

"Oh, Florina?"

"Yes?"  
Ninian leaned in and brought her mouth to Florina's ear.

"This may seem a bit . . . arbitrary, but I was wondering, what did you want for your birthday?"

"Ninian?" Florina asked. Ninian only broke out into that secretive smile of hers.

"Um . . ."Florina pondered.

Matthew suddenly whirled around and glanced from side to side. A frown danced across his face.

"Hear something Matthew?" Guy pivoted on his heel to see what was wrong. It was a few seconds before Matthew responded.

"C'mon, let's keep moving." He lightly nudged them forward, glancing over his shoulder one last time. "Let's get out of here before anything big happens." The four sandwiched between him and Guy did not need to be told twice. Florina turned to Ninian to finish her exchange of whispers.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that; could you repeat that just a bit louder Florina?" Florina's whisper was slightly louder the second time, but only a person with sharp hearing could pick up what she had said.  
Someone like a spy.

Upon reaching the edge of the forest, Matthew ushered them out before turning to Guy.

"Hey kid," He drew his sword and wedged it into the trunk of an ancient tree. "Stay alert and keep an eye on the girls."

"Right." Guy gave a nod and drew his own lethal blade.

"Nino, tell me when the thunder gets closer."

"Okay." Nino gave a nod and directed her attention at the sky.

"Matthew, why did you stick your sword in the tree?" Nils asked.

"I'm feeling for vibrations in case someone is coming." Matthew explained. "But I'm also making a path for the lightning to get to the ground, meaning I'll be fried if the tree gets struck. That option's none too appealing to me, so Nino's going to tell me when the lightning is close enough that I could be hit."

"Oh." Nils murmured. Matthew closed his eyes and felt for vibrations for a minute. Eventually his tongue ran across his thin lips and his russet eyes shot open.

"There's a group of bandits coming." He finally spoke again. "Small group, but something tells me that reinforcements for the enemy will be plentiful." With a swift yank, his sword was freed from the wood. "Guy, protect the girls. Nino, can you help him hold them off until I get back with some reinforcements?"

"Yes sir!" Nino gripped her tome.

"Ninian, Nils, I suggest you hide. I'll be back in a few minutes!" Matthew took off, only a blur of red and brown. Guy now turned his trained ear took to the noise that was drawing closer.

"Matthew said only a small troupe, right?"

"Yes." Nino nodded. Guy's face looked slightly muddled.

"So why do I hear such tremendous noise?" Guy's voice sounded even more confused. Florina felt a tingling worry; she knew that noise.

She'd have to know the sound of pounding hooves.

* * *

Sometimes, I want to beat my younger self with a lead pipe.

This is one of those times.

I'm going to say that reviewing this chapter is rather unnecessary; chances are, if there's something wrong, I know how to fix it now. If you really want to, however, feel free to give your questions, comments, and beef.  
We can both laugh at my younger self.

Thank you all for your time, and God Bless. ;)

-Kit


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